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Worldwide flight delays caused by glitchy check-in system
Passengers around the world have been enduring long delays thanks to a glitchy passenger reservation system, passengers, airlines and airports are reporting. Airports as far flung as London's Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Melbourne and Baltimore Washington have all reported issues. According to Gatwick, it was caused by a problem with Amadeus Altea, a passenger management system used by 125 airlines. That company confirmed that it's having a "network issue," according to the BBC, but has started restoring services.
Swarm revives Foursquare's mayorships, restoring your self-worth
If you miss the early days of Foursquare, when checking into places was still novel and being mayor of your favorite hangout made you feel like royalty, get ready for a blast from the past. Foursquare just announced that it's brought back mayorships to its spinoff check-in app Swarm (the core Foursquare app is now devoted to location discovery), just as the company promised it would last month. Surprisingly, Foursquare admitted that competing for mayor crown stickers on Swarm, which could be added to your check-ins, "wasn't as much fun" as nabbing a lofty title. You can earn a mayorship by checking into a location more times in the past 30 days than anyone else -- pretty much like how it worked before. You won't be getting your old titles back instantly (though Foursquare is turning your old badges into stickers), but the company says it'll count check-ins from the past month.
France's Toulouse-Blagnac airport to conduct NFC field trials for BlackBerry smartphones
Navigating through airport security is hardly the most fanciful way of kicking off a vacation, but this summer, a handful of frequent fliers in France will take part in a field trial that aims to streamline the process and make it a bit more enjoyable. Fifty lucky travelers armed with BlackBerry smartphones will take part in a pilot study that tests the authentication technology recently developed by Orange and SITA. Upon their arrival at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, the handset's NFC-capable SIM card will serve as an access pass to the car park, the premium access zone for departures and even the private lounge area. Smartphone integration will provide travelers with real-time flight information, and it's said that the handset will even remember the location of one's vehicle in the car park. As the system is hardware-based, the identity verification technology will even work when the smartphone is turned off. The Toulouse-Blagnac airport aims to have a broader NFC implementation available by 2013-2014, which may allow users to board flights and pay for goods with their mobile device. To learn more about the vision, you'll find the PR after the break.
SITA and Orange develop NFC-based airport check-ins, let you bump the TSA (video)
You've been there before -- fumbling in-front of a non-enthused security agent, trying to download your fancy mobile boarding pass over an uncooperative network. It's that kind of awkwardness that SITA and Orange are trying to avoid with their NFC-based check-in solution. In their joint proof-of-concept, the duo embedded ticket credentials into an NFC-capable SIM card -- meaning phones without NFC circuitry can also use the tech -- which enables airport plebes to check-in, get through security, board planes and even enter lounges with just a wave of your phone. And because you're not futzing with loading a webpage, nor relying on a fussy image-based scanner, the tech should mean less time spent waiting at checkpoints. Writing that info onto the SIM has other advantages, as it can still be read even when your device runs out of juice. So, next time you're jet setting into Geneva -- you know, to deposit something totally non-nefarious into your Swiss bank account -- peep the demonstration area at SITA's HQ. Or, if you're not the globetrotting type, a video explaining all awaits after the break.
Google Latitude, now with 100 percent more check-in deals
A couple of months back, Google brought check-ins to Latitude, its location-sharing service, through Google Maps 5.1 for Android. Naturally, iPhone users only recently received the same functionality, but some would argue they should be grateful to be included at all. (Kidding. Sort of.) Now, Latitude's inching closer to direct competition with Foursquare and Groupon by offering check-in deals at retailers like RadioShack, American Eagle, Quiznos, and Finish Line. Google is currently namechecking over a dozen nationwide partners, and that list will surely grow as the bandwagon approaches Mach 5. Curious as to how this all works? Check in at RadioShack, for example, and you might receive ten percent off an in-store purchase. Offers are tied to check-in frequency, building on Latitude's three-tiered status system; higher status means better deals. If you'd rather peek nearby offers before you decide to leave the house, head to Google's official check in page in the source link below.
Google Latitude joins check-in game with Maps 5.1 for Android
We're honestly surprised it took this long, but Google is finally employing a social hook that so many of its peers (Foursquare, Facebook, Yelp, and so on) have long embraced: the location-based check-in. Coming to Google Latitude with today's Maps 5.1 for Android, the company hopes to set itself apart from the competition with features like check-in notifications (disabled by default), automatic check-ins for your most frequent establishments (case-by-case activation), and "check out" that detects when you leave a location. So what's the incentive to use the service? Not much at this point -- no badges, no sharing through third-party services like Twitter (Latitude-only at the moment), no support for simultaneous check-in with other services, no special vendor discounts (Google told us there's nothing to announce yet), and no ability to create a venue like your apartment (Places only). What it does right is a tiered system of special statuses based on check-in frequency -- you can become a regular, VIP, or Guru (Google says it's not definite yet on how many check-ins each status bump will require). iOS Latitude users will be able to see where their Android friends check in, but at this point the option to pimp your specific location is for Google's platform only. If you're a fan of Latitude already, this is probably a no-brainer, but for everyone else, don't expect mayoral coffee discounts just yet. %Gallery-115487%
