Tag archive: Starbucks

Announced on the Official Google Blog earlier today, Google will be simplifying how the privacy policy is structured across more than 60 different Google products on March 1, 2012. Users will definitely benefit from the simplicity of a single document regarding privacy instead of sixty policies, but may not like the company direction stated within the blog post. As outlined in the revised privacy policy and terms of service, any user action on… Read More

Noticed on a wider scale today, Google has begun integrating Google+ updates from official brand pages within search results. The brand page updates are tied to the official URL of the company and up to two recent entries from the brand page appear within the results. Users viewing the search results can add the page to their circles if they have a Google+ profile. They can also click on the Google+ updates to reach the brand page in addition… Read More

Announced in an official blog post, Google rolled out the 11th annual version of the Google Zeitgeist earlier today. The Zeitgeist shows off the search terms that grew the fastest during the year as well as the most popular terms in various countries around the world. In the Fastest Rising category, YouTube star Rebecca Black took the top spot this year in regards to Google searches, both globally and within the United States. Black beat out… Read More

Launched during January 2011, Starbucks Mobile Pay allows customers of the coffee chain to make purchases with an iPhone, Android phone or BlackBerry using a mobile application. The initial launch allows customers to make mobile payments at approximately 6,800 Starbucks locations as well as 1,000 Target locations. However, this number has climbed to 10,000 locations over the past eleven months by adding Safeway Starbucks stores and locations in… Read More

Starbucks and Apple have joined forces to offer free iOS apps to customers. Coffee drinkers visiting the shop have been able to download free songs from iTunes for a number of years now as part of the popular Pick of the Week program organized by the two companies. A Cnet report says that visitors to Starbucks can now grab a Pick of the Week app card at the cash register. On the back is a code that the customer needs to enter to begin… Read More

Earlier this week we introduced you to Jonathan Stark, who was testing out a social experiment. Today a hacker outlined exactly how he started to steal money from the card and transfer the balance to his own Starbucks card. The hacker goes by the name of Odio, who has decided to sell the loaded Starbucks card on Ebay and give the proceeds to the charity Save the Children. The experiment started with Stark taking a picture of the back of his… Read More

Earlier this week, Jonathan’s Starbucks card became a viral sensation, treating the masses to their morning coffee and asking for users to pay it forward as they saw fit. The good karma seemed to be working, as the card would empty and re-up throughout the day and we generally were getting warm fuzzies about the idea that there really is such a thing as collective good and that the Internet could learn to share and share alike. But then… Read More

Jonathan Stark is a mobile application consultant and expert who, according to his own site, helps “big companies with little apps.” In June, he wrote that he was trying to familiarize himself with the mobile wallet and mobile payment system as much as possible, and offered a short review of the Starbucks app. Then, taking things even further in his mobile payment experiment, he broadcast his card to the world and told them to use it and see how… Read More

If you haven’t done it yourself, you’ll have seen others at it. Starbucks (or any coffee shop with free Wi-Fi, for that matter) is a magnet for laptop owners who love coffee and the Internet in equal amounts….or perhaps the Internet a bit more than coffee. Those that have time on their hands might spend all afternoon in their seat, surfing the web, checking emails, and downloading songs, the long-ago bought bean-based beverage slowly… Read More

Starbucks introduced a new app for iPhone and BlackBerry today allowing users to pay for coffee via smartphone. And with a location (let’s be honest, more like four or five) in our neighborhood, we decided to try it out. The only things you’re required to have are a Starbucks gift card and account. You’re able to sign up for an account on your phone, but consider yourselves warned, it’s not a fun process. We all know apps aren’t great data entry… Read More

Starbucks on Wednesday launched a mobile payment system at 6,800 stores nationwide and in 1,000 locations in Target stores. Starbucks patrons will now be able to pay for their lattes using a Starbucks app. The free app is currently available for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch and for RIM's BlackBerry. Customers will be able to access a barcode linked to their accounts, which then is scanned at the counter. The mobile payment system is… Read More

Starbucks wants your virtual bucks too. The coffee chain is partnering with Yahoo to introduce a digital portal and store for those customers who use its free Wi-Fi network, reports the Associated Press. The new service will offer free and discounted news, local information, e-books, movies, and music. Contributing services include iTunes, Patch, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Zagat. When a customer logs into a… Read More

Days after reports of Bing displacing Yahoo in the number 2 slot came out, Yahoo attempts to reassert its relevancy by previewing updates to several of its site products, including email and search. The updates are expect to roll out to users sometime this fall. The changes are aimed towards reversing the decline in the amount of time people spend on Yahoo sites. The company changed the appearance of its search interface so that users can get… Read More

As promised earlier this month, giant coffee chain Starbucks will be offering free Wi-Fi in its U.S. and Canadian operated stores as a way to bring in customers bearing notebooks, netbooks, mobile devices, smartphones, and WiFi-enabled gaming units. Although Starbucks has offered up to two hours of free Wi-Fi to members of its My Starbucks Reward program—and folks with Wi-Fi benefits via AT&T have been able to tap into the Internet… Read More

Starbucks Corp. will begin offering unlimited free wireless Internet access at all company-operated U.S. locations starting July 1, part of an ongoing effort to bring more customers in the door. The Wi-Fi access, which will eventually include a new network of news and entertainment content exclusively for customers, comes as Starbucks works to take business back from rivals like McDonald's Corp. and independent cafes that have long offered… Read More