It was a decidedly smaller crowd (the organizers said it was down 28 percent to 3,700 attendees) at this year’s HITEC show and conference, which was held last week at the Anaheim (CA) Convention Center. Despite the slimmed-down attendance and the bland venue, the show had a lot of energy and produced more than a few dynamic new technologies and major enhancements to existing systems.

As with most HITECs, the exhibit floor at this year’s edition showcased several major themes:

Mobile applications. Many exhibitors were showing applications for the iPhone and iTouch and other smartphone technologies. Before HITEC, a lot of the mobile app buzz centered on distribution, e.g., Choice Hotels’ iPhone reservations tool, but much of the action last week focused on mobile applications for internal use. MSI, for example, debuted an iPhone and iTouch system that allows managers to access real-time property operating stats. Also, hotel SalesPro was showing an app that provides hotel salespeople with real-time access to their properties’ sales and catering system through handheld devices.

Social media. While it’s more of a sales and marketing topic than a true technology, a number of vendors embraced the social media phenomenon in their technology offerings. Reservations, sales and catering and concierge services were examples of systems embracing social media. Other firms, such as TravelClick, offered technologies that enable hoteliers to manage and take advantage of the marketing power of the various social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Anything IP. Of course, the Internet is an integral part of most hotel technologies, but at this year’s HITEC, Internet-powered solutions, mostly for guest services, were abundant. While VOIP is maturing as a telephone technology, the new wrinkle this year was IPTV, which is touted to bring more and higher-quality content to hotel guestroom televisions.

Integration. Nearly every exhibitor celebrated their alliances with other tech companies to deliver higher-quality and more-seamless technology products and systems to hotel companies and properties. Hotel owners and operators expect one-stop shopping (and accountability) as much as possible, a service most hotel technology vendors can now provide by integrating with other providers.

Go to the event’s website for more information on this HITEC and next year’s, which will be held June 21-24 in Orlando.