starbucks - page 2

App Store Reality – Why You Won’t Pay For Apps, But Will For Coffee

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This is worth more than many apps, that's why.
This is worth more than many apps, that's why.

In a fantastic blog post, designer Josh Lehman begs us all to stop using the metaphor that many of us, press and developer alike, continue to spout when we hear a complaint about the price of a $0.99 app. “Look,” we say, again and again, “you’ll spend $4 on a cup of coffee at (insert your favorite coffe brand here, usually Starbucks), why won’t you spend a paltry $1 on my app?”

Lehman sees through the falsity of this argument, and then shows us why this attitude isn’t selling apps, either, regardless of its accuracy.

With McDonald’s Trial, PayPal Is Trying To Be A Lot More Like The Apple Store

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PayPal looks to expand its mobile payment marketshare and features with an app-based payment trial at McDonald's locations in France.
PayPal looks to expand its mobile payment market share and features with an app-based payment trial at McDonald's locations in France.

Square’s announcement of its partnership with Starbucks and the launch of new mobile payment company by several key retail and service chains were signs that the mobile payment industry and digital wallet concept is big business. Late last week, however, there was more news on the mobile payments front that proves that the race is far from over – one could even say that it’s barely started.

In a move that could make Square’s deal with Starbucks seem small and limited, Reuters reports that PayPal may soon be expanding its brand of mobile payments to include on the biggest fast food chains on the planet – McDonald’s. PayPal is currently testing a payment system in 30 McDonald’s locations in France. The company demoed the technology earlier this year.

No More Swipe Fees For Small Businesses Using Square Payment Processing

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Square is courting small business with new rules and lower transaction fees.

Last week, Square announced a partnership with Starbucks to provide back-end payment processing and CRM for the coffee mega-company. Today, Square brings news of the other end of the business spectrum. Small businesses who make less than $250,000 per year will no longer have to pay the standard 2.75 percent per swipe processing fee (though they can still opt for this) if they pay one flat rate, currently set at $275 monthly.

If a small businesses chooses the flat rate option, they’ll essentially end up paying 1.3 percent per swipe – a significant savings if they meet the criteria. IF the business goes over the line, they’ll be charged the standard per-swipe rate.

This is Square making sure that it can have as many users as possible, from super corporate giants to small mom and pop shops with a bit of tech savvy.

Soon You’ll Be Able To Pay With Square In Starbucks

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Starbucks and Square

Square just announced a huge partnership with Starbucks that will put the hot mobile payment startup in 7,000 Starbucks nationwide this fall. The news means that Square users will be able to use the app to pay at select Starbucks locations and find nearby stores in the Square Directory.

As part of the partnership, Starbucks is investing a cool $25 million in Square and the CEO of Starbucks will be joining Square’s Board of Directors. This is definitely a win-win for Square, Starbucks, and the mobile payment industry as a whole.

The New Maclocks MacBook Pro Security Case Helps You Say Goodbye To The Kensington Lock

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Add a security lock to your new MacBook Pro to ensure it isn't a target for coffee shop conmen.
Add a security lock to your new MacBook Pro to ensure it isn't an easy target for coffee shop con men.

In an effort to create the thinnest, lightest MacBook Pro it has ever released, Apple did away with a number of features that MacBook Pro users have become accustomed to, including the Kensington security lock. That means, of course, that you can no longer secure your $2,800 notebook to a table in Starbucks, and that it could easily be stolen from right under your nose the second you get up to order another cappuccino.

But Maclocks has a solution: the world’s first MacBook Pro security case and lock.

WWDC Is Black Friday For Starbucks [Image]

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WWDC-Starbucks
You need copious amounts of coffee to wait in line for 9 hours.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference has spawned some huge lines this year, with many waiting outside San Francisco’s Moscone Center a full nine hours before the keynote will begin — as we showed you earlier. But it isn’t just Tim Cook and co. who will be enjoying all of the attention; the local Starbucks is struggling to keep up with thirsty attendees.

Source: saschasegan on Twitter

The Upside Down Apple Logo: A Steve Jobs Mistake

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An old PowerBook with an upside down Apple logo on Sex and the City.
An old PowerBook with an upside down Apple logo on Sex and the City.

When you open up your MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, the glowing Apple logo on its hood sits upright so that everyone in Starbucks knows that you’re using a Mac. However, it hasn’t always been that way. There was a time when Apple logos were upside down on the lid of Apple notebooks, until Steve Jobs realized his mistake.

Apple Is World’s Most Admired Company For Fifth Year In A Row

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image via Tropico Station
image via Tropico Station

Another year, another title. Fortune announced their list of the world’s most admired companies this morning, and Apple swept away the competition for the fifth year in a row. Each year Fortune surveys the business community to find out which company has the best reputation in the eyes of their peers. Apple has ranked at the top of Fortune’s annual list for the last five years which ties them with General Electric for the number of most appearances in the top spot.

This Week’s Must-Have iOS Apps: iTunes Festival, Starbucks, Photosynth & More!

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The iTunes Festival 2011 is now well under way in London, boasting 31 nights of music from 62 artists including Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Bruno Mars, My Chemical Romance, and many more. If you weren’t lucky enough to bag yourself some tickets, you can still enjoy every show live and on demand with the iTunes Festival London 2011 app for your iOS device — the first of this week’s must-have iOS applications!

We’ve also included the brand new Starbucks app, which boasts Mobile Pay, reward card management and eGifts; and the Photosynth app from Microsoft, which just got an awesome update!

Apple Files Patent for Localized iTunes Stores

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A feature called “Now Playing,”  launched in  fall 2007,  allowed latte-sippers to wander into a Starbucks, log onto the iTunes Store with a laptop, iPod Touch or iPhone and instantly see what song was playing in-store, plus browse and buy music on iTunes.

Unwired View found a patent Apple filed for a similar feature.
The basic idea: place a local cache of iTunes media store server at a retail location and follow the music played from that cache. The associated info is beamed to iPhones and Macbooks via local Wi-Fi network.


Apple envisions lots of in-store tie-ins and cross selling thanks to the feature.

From the patent application:
“One advantage of the invention is that patrons of establishments can dynamically receive store-based information while at the establishments. Store-based information facilitates user experience and can also facilitate locating associated media content from an online media store.

In store-based information can be displayed on a patron’s portable electronic device while the patron in the store… The online media store can coordinate with central management to make store-based information centrally stored and accessible…”

Via Unwired View