Sorry for the late Monday post. So without further adieu:

1. Google introduced App Inventor, a simple GUI based app builder for Android OS. TechCrunch’s Jason Kincaid takes it for a spin. Mike Loukides from O’Reilly Radar discusses the different philosophies behind Apple and Google as evidenced by App Inventor. I for one don’t think that we’ll be better off having more bad apps at our disposal, but to each his own. And I guess that’s Google’s point.
2. Tnooz reports ITA had been working on hotel search. Add this to Google’s display of hotel listings and pricing on Google Maps and you’ve got some serious juju going.
3. Big cloud announcements at Microsoft WDC10. Perhaps Azure-in-a-box is the most intriguing. Ben Kepes has an interesting take.  And eBay is the first high-profile client to take the plunge.
4. Facebook v. Google: the upcoming travel wars. Interestingly the author ponders Microsoft’s potential role, but doesn’t consider Apple.  Curious.
5. Apple had its press conference on Friday, but the real-world experiences of Engadget’s own writers shows that perhaps the iPhone4 antenna issue isn’t as big of an issue that the media is making it out to be. And I would say that Microsoft COO Kevin Turner’s lame attempt at a joke equating the iPhone antenna issue with the outright suckiness of Vista was imprudent at best. First ship a mobile OS that doesn’t suck and then you’ve earned the right to say something.
6. In related news, it looks like Microsoft Phone7 OS isn’t going to be the game changer they hoped it would be.
7. Can Google make a good travel product? TravelPost’s Simon Breakwell has some definite opinions. A must read.
8. Google Click-to-Call. Is this the new face of mobile advertising?
9. Bing Travel introduces Flight Summary with savings if you’re flexible with your travel plans. Pretty cool. Would be even cooler if they could integrate dynamic packing of hotel and car to give the best overall travel value.
10. Homeaway hires their new COO from PayPal. This signifies a move to better integrate alternative payments (including mobile) into the booking process, but perhaps shows an appreciation of the benefits of having a more professional software engineering organization in order to keep up with the needs of the business.

Homeaway, the online vacation rental giant snapped up it’s second vacation rental site in less than a week, purchasing AlugueTemporada.com.br.  The move expands Homeaway’s footprint into South America and gives them over 12,000 property listings on the continent and 475,000 worldwide.  The move is pretty savvy given the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, both taking place in Rio de Janeiro.  Start searching now.

It looks like the sleeping giant has awoken and is aggressively moving to enhance it’s leadership position in the online vacation rental market.  It’s surprising only in that it’s the first significant moves to increase it’s depth and breadth of properties since it raised $250M 16 months ago.  It also follows behind Homeway’s first major television ad campaign where they launched an ad based on National Lampoon’s Vacation during this year’s Super Bowl.

What comes next for the Austin, TX based Homeaway is unclear, but they are certainly on the move.  It should be interesting to watch.