Google to acquire travel software firm ITA

ITA Software search string made to the top of Google Search Trend. And it is understandable, because the name of the company ITA Software has became linked to the leading search provider Google itself. And, Google, as usual, is in the community focus, being at the focus of public attention.

According to the official Google press release, today, July 1, 2010, Google announced an agreement to acquire ITA Software, a Cambridge, Massachusetts flight information software company, for $700 million, subject to adjustments.

• Google's acquisition of ITA Software will create a new, easier way for users to find better flight information online, which should encourage more users to make their flight purchases online.
• The acquisition will benefit passengers, airlines and online travel agencies by making it easier for users to comparison shop for flights and airfares and by driving more potential customers to airlines' and online travel agencies' websites. Google won't be setting airfare prices and has no plans to sell airline tickets to consumers.
• Because Google doesn't currently compete against ITA Software, the deal will not change existing market shares. We are very excited about ITA Software's QPX business, and we're looking forward to working with current and future customers. Google will honor all existing agreements, and we're also enthusiastic about adding new partners.

ITA’s technology earlier drew interest from several other firms, including Expedia Inc., Kayak.com, Travelport LP and Amadeus SA, people familiar with the matter said. Some of them submitted unsolicited bids for ITA but weren't given access to ITA's financial information because it was in exclusive talks with Google. There are rumors that at least one bidder was taking a "wait and see" approach to how Google would handle ITA's clients while another was considering whether it should take a more vocal stand against the deal.

Google said it would "honor all existing agreements, and we're also enthusiastic about adding new partners."

Henry Harteveldt, a travel-industry analyst at market watcher Forrester Research Inc., said he "would be surprised if the regulators found any cause for concern."

The deal helps Google compete with rival Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine, which uses ITA's technology to provide airfare information; search queries on Google currently point air travelers to other sites.

The acquisition is Google's fourth-largest in its nearly 12 years of existence and comes on the heels of a $750 million purchase of AdMob Inc., a mobile advertising company. That deal received significant scrutiny by federal antitrust regulators before being approved earlier this year.

With ITA, Google could provide more detailed results, including recommending specific flights, and better compete with the other online travel agencies. Critics worry, that Google could use its dominance in overall search to direct traffic to its own offering or increase licensing fees for ITA software. On Thursday Mr. Schmidt said "Google is not going to become a travel agency."

ITA was founded in 1996 by a team of computer scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It raised a $100-million round of funding in 2006 from venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and General Catalyst Partners.

The deal signals Google's serious interest in becoming a major player in travel, a hub of online commerce including search.

"With Google, we think we will have access to the scale, both of technology and of other bright people to work with, to help really take this to the next level," ITA Chief Executive Jeremy Wertheimer said.

Online Travel Ecosystem

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.google.com/press/ita/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575341270531117614.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google-travel-20100702,0,7794153.story

Abby Sunderland was in great spirits after being spotted!!!

The Qantas airbus sent from Perth early today contacted the 16-year-old Miss Sunderland on board her stricken vessel Wild Eyes around 2pm today. A Qantas spokesman said the airbus arrived over the search area about 2pm and spotted Miss Sunderland's damaged yacht shortly afterwards.

Her yacht has been dismasted, but remained upright and she is reported to be "in good spirits''. She will be rescued by fishing boat within 24 hours, rescue authorities said.

A crew of 11 SES and FESA volunteers that were on board the 'spotter' airbus returned to Perth just after 7:30pm last night after successfully locating the troubled vessel in the Indian Ocean.

FESA taskforce leader Will Blackshaw said the crew had a very brief period of contact with the young sailor, but said she remained positive despite the setback.

"Abby is in very good spirits," he said. "She's obviously keen to have some assistance, but she is in very good spirits. The window of opportunity to speak to her was very short, so we had very brief, direct conversations about her health, the condition of the vessel, and her communications. The seas are very rough indeed, and there is a lot of wind, and she is obviously going to have a very uncomfortable night of sleep”.

He said the plane was conducting its first pass of the area and had been searching for Abby for only 10 minutes when she was spotted from the air.

The crew then made radio contact with the young sailor, with the first words conveyed being "This is Abby". Mr Blackshaw said the crew instructed Abby to activate two further EPIRB devices tomorrow afternoon to ensure a continuous signal for rescue crews to spot her.

FESA spokesman Chris Lawson confirmed a second, smaller plane would leave Perth Airport early this morning to conduct another sighting and ensure Abby was okay. SES volunteer Michael Wood, who spotted Abby's vessel from the airbus, said he had been excited to locate the boat.

"Because I was at the front of the plane, I just happened to spot Abby as she came into the field of view," he said. "It was very nervy at first, but very exciting that positive contact had been made. We're all mindful that Abby's got a number of hours left so we've all got our fingers crossed."

Sgt Mike Wear, from WA Water Police, said Abby sounded "very upbeat and very strong" during the brief contact. "It certainly was a very emotional event to be able to speak to the young girl Abby today and see her in that predicament out there," he said.

Earlier today, Qantas refused to comment on how much the trip had cost the company or whether they would seek reimbursement for the flight.

Laurence Sunderland said his daughter would not be resuming her round-the-world attempt once she has been rescued, the AFP news agency reports. Abby had been trying to break her brother Zac's solo voyage record. "We've got our Abigail back and the quest will be over," he said. "Knowing that she's alive and well means so much more to me than any sailing record. It's just a huge, huge relief."

He and his wife had rejected criticism from some over their decision to allow her to make the attempt, saying she was prepared and mentally well-equipped to deal with the challenge.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://100searches.blogspot.com/2010/06/16-year-old-abby-sunderland-is-lost-in.html

http://soloround.blogspot.com/2010/06/photo-and-flyover-update.html

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/solo-sailor-abby-sunderland-out-of-contact-distress-signal-activated/story-e6frg12c-1225878274560#

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0611-abby-sunderland-20100611,0,5457878.story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10291246.stm

16-year old Abby Sunderland is lost in Indian Ocean

Abby Sunderland is the 16-year-old girl who was sailing around the world in attempt to set a record as the youngest ever to do so. According to The Associated Press she is currently missing between Africa and Australia. Reports came from her brother that the teen navigator lost contact with her family this past Thursday when she was in the Southern Indian Ocean. Reportedly, Abby was sailing into a storm at the time and her emergency beacons were activated.

The family provided an update on the situation at abbysunderland.com. They've noted that Australian Search and Rescue will be sending an airbus over her location as soon as possible. However, the best they will be able to do is communicating with her via marine radio and providing her support to address her emergency situation, if needed. According to the note posted here, Abby has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis.

Abby set sail from Los Angeles County's Marina del Rey on Jan. 23 in an attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone without stopping. Abby soon ran into equipment problems and had to stop for repairs. She gave up the goal of setting the record in April, but continued on. Her website says she left Cape Town, South Africa, on May 21 and on Monday reached the halfway point of her goal.

The search will continue for Abby Sunderland between Africa and Australia. Hopefully it was a glitch with some equipment that caused the distress/emergency beacon signal. Let's hope she is located soon and everything is fine with Abby.

Abby's father struggled with emotions and said he didn't know if his daughter was in a life raft or aboard the boat, or whether the boat was upside down.

"Everything seemed to be under control," Laurence Sunderland said. "But then our call dropped and a hour later the Coast Guard called."

Sunderland’s Boat

Sunderland's yacht, Wild Eyes, is a 40-foot (12.19 m) sloop built in 2001 by A.S.A. Yachts PTY, Australia. It was designed by Jutson Yacht, Australia, specifically to be sailed single-handed through the Southern Ocean. As BTC Velocity, the vessel finished second in the Class 3 (Open 40) category of the Around Alone 2002 race. Wild Eyes is constructed of E-glass with Kevlar reinforcement into five watertight compartments with a crash bulkhead and a stern escape hatch. It was bought in Rhode Island by the Sunderland family in October 2009, then sailed by Abby and Zac, with their father Laurence, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for transport to California. Wild Eyes was refit in Marina Del Rey, California with an array of electrical, communication and navigation systems.

Abby is hundreds of miles from land. The nearest ship was about 400 miles away. The rescue effort is being coordinated by the French-controlled Reunion Islands and Australia. Sunderland had been sailing in 50- to 60-foot seas and it was dark when the EPIRB devices were activated.

The Sunderlands are asking people to pray for their daughter, a high-school junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif.

The latest official note from Abby Sunderland family

June 10th, 2010 10:23am We spoke with Abby early this morning and learned that she had had a very rough day with winds up to 60 knots and seas 20-25 feet. She had been knocked down several times but was handling things well. The wind had subsided to around 35 knots which she and Wild Eyes are quite comfortable with. 

We were helping her troubleshoot her engine that she was trying to start to charge her systems. Satellite phone reception was patchy. She was able to get the water out of the engine and start her up. We were waiting to hear back from her when American Search & Rescue authorities called to report having received a signal from her emergency beacon (EPIRB). We initially thought that the signal was sent automatically from her water-activated EPIRB and that it had been activated during one of her knockdowns. As we pulled the paperwork from her EPIRB registration, we learned that the signal had come from her manually activated EPIRB. 

We were referred to Australian Search & Rescue and while we were on the phone with them another signal came in from her handheld PLB (Personal Locator Beacon). Her water-activated EPIRB has not been activated so we are hopeful that the boat is still upright.  

We are working closely with American, French and Australian Search & Rescue authorities to coordinate several ships in the area to divert to her location. There are several ships in her area, the earliest possible contact is 40 hours. We are actively seeking out some sort of air rescue but this is difficult due to the remoteness of her location. Australian Search & Rescue have arranged to have a Quantas Airbus fly over her location at first light (she is 11 hours later). They will not be able to help her other than to talk via marine radio if they are able to get close enough. Hopefully, they will be able to assess her situation and report back to us.

Abby has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis situation like this. She has a dry suit, survival suit, life raft, and ditch bag with emergency supplies. If she can keep warm and hang on, help will be there as soon as possible. Wild Eyes is designed for travel in the Southern Ocean and is equipped with 5 air-tight bulkheads to keep her buoyant in the event of major hull damage. It is built to Category 0 standards and is designed to self-right in the event of capsize.

Thank you for all of your kind emails and calls. We appreciate your prayers and support.

We will update as soon as there is some news. 

Laurence, Marianne and Team Abby

Latest Video Interview with Zac, Abby’s Brother:

16-year old Abby Sunderland lost in Indian Ocean

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978292997

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/17943/emergency+rescue+effort+is+launched+for+teen+sailor+abby+sunderland/

http://www.sevensidedcube.net/general/2010/abby-sunderland-16-year-old-sailing-around-the-world-lost-in-indian-ocean/

http://soloround.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_Sunderland