It’s a good move for those regular, more savvy users of the promotion (and the environment). Yet the removal of those physical, tangible cards could result in a drop in downloads. Read more »
News brands like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are turning to free Wi-Fi as a way to promote their content. In the lates example, Times readers can get 15 free stories a day while sitting in Starbucks. Read more at paidContent »
Heading to a coffee shop without your Mac? Consider this sneaky method to use a two-screened Windows laptop — and save your Apple stickers! Read more »
Square has had a whirlwind year, inking a deal with Starbucks, raising $200 million and pushing its annualized processing rate to $10 billion. Now it’s looking ahead to 2013, when it will establish itself as a global brand. Read more »
Starbucks customers can now use the Square Wallet mobile payment app to pay for their coffee. We take a look at how it work, what its limitations are and what it means for the larger mobile payment market. Read more »
Already, workplaces are changing because of trends like BYOD and gamification. But other emerging technologies are also altering what our workspace looks like and how we collaborate. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A number of new data markets have emerged in the past few years that provide access to data for decision making. It’s early days, however, with plenty of kinks to work out on both the technology side and with business models. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Starbucks has seen the power of mobile payments first hand but isn’t prepared to expand its own payment efforts. But it is making a big $25 million bet on Square to be a leader in this fast growing space. Read more »
Here is a new mission from Starbucks: how to make energy-efficient coffee. The retailer plans to launch tomorrow a competition that will pit 10 of its stores against one another to see who can cut electricity use the most in 30 days. Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Starbucks continues to show how a brick-and-mortar retailer can offer the convenience of mobile payments. With its updated Android app, the company adds PayPal support and a widget for card balance information and store locations. The app is now supported in the U.K. and Canada. Read more »
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz likes his coffee black and his politics nonpartisan. Last year, in a move to break gridlock in Washington, he launched a campaign urging CEOs to boycott political donations. Now he’s leading “Indivisible,” an initiative focused on job creation. Read more at paidContent »
A comScore study of consumer behavior following exposure to marketing messages on Facebook shows that both fans and friends of fans are more likely to buy things after they see such messages, data that Facebook badly needs to prove the value of its social platform. Read more »
Buzz Bissinger should have been excited when Starbucks selected his Byliner e-single, “After Friday Night Lights,” as its free “pick of the week.” But then Amazon responded. Turns out being a Starbucks Pick of the Week is a mixed blessing for authors and publishers. Read more at paidContent »
The emergence of the big data phenomenon is fundamentally changing everything from the way companies operate to the way people interact to how the world deals with outbreaks of infectious diseases. Here we highlight 10 case studies illustrating how big data is changing the world. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Mobile deals combine location-aware discounts with mobile marketing campaigns. What are the largest pitfalls in this promising space, though? Privacy and security issues must be addressed to assure consumers their purchases are secure and their location is being closely guarded. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With new products from a variety of players like Google and Isis comes a potentially confusing year as the term “mobile wallet” gets thrown around repeatedly. What exactly is the “mobile wallet”? Here are some important definitions for those looking to make a move in the space. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The mobile payments industry can learn a lot from Starbucks, which has seen tremendous success with its year-old payment app for iPhone and Android. But very few players can match Starbucks’ brand recognition or customer demographics, and no one should expect to replicate its success. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In a possible sign of trouble for the booming mobile payment industry, a semiconductor firm filed patent lawsuits against Starbucks (NSDQ: S… Read more at paidContent »
The past year in mobile has been even more eventful than most of us would have predicted. Our appetite for mobile data grew dramatically; Google’s Android continued its march to worldwide dominance; Amazon joined the tablet bandwagon; and AT&T tried and failed to acquire T-Mobile USA, among many other things. All of that activity lays the groundwork for a very promising — and very challenging — 2012. This research note serves both as a review of the major trends and events of 2011 as well as a forecast for the coming year. Companies mentioned in this report include Millennial Media, Quattro Wireless and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full research note, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Starbucks’ first e-book choice for its expanded pick-of-the-week program is The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern. Starbucks (NSDQ: SBUX) vis… Read more at paidContent »
Apple loves giving Starbucks customers free stuff. This week it introduced an ebook Pick of the Week to go along with the free song and app of the week programs it already has in place. Book codes from Starbucks can be redeemed through Apple iBookstore. Read more »
Do mobile operators have what it takes to be a killer force in the mobile advertising industry? Telefonica’s UK mobile operator O2 has recen… Read more at paidContent »
Usually my e-mail from Starbucks (NSDQ: SBUX) is about the new reserve coffee or some other promo about the company’s products. But the mess… Read more at paidContent »
The impact of digital technology has shattered long-established monopolies and ways of making money in the newspaper publishing industry. Today, publishers must find ways to subsidize content-creation costs directly, and this report examines a few different approaches, from more flexible paywalls to charging users directly for access and mimicking the business models of other industries, such as online gaming. Companies mentioned in this report include Ford, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Thanks to a new aspect of the ongoing partnership between Apple and Starbucks, you can now get paid apps free at the coffee chain via redeemable codes printed on cards. It’s a smart way to get paid apps to people who don’t normally buy them. Read more »
Mobile payments — payments initiated by a phone for a transaction at a physical point of sale or online — will total over $750 billion worldwide by 2015, and many predict they will soon begin to replace a typical credit card transaction. This report analyzes and forecasts the mobile payments industry, from its current technologies to the companies implementing them and the trends we can expect in the coming months. Much of the near-term growth of mobile payments will be driven by near-field communication (NFC) technology, but QR and 2D bar codes, mobile POS systems and SMS transactions are also important platforms for companies to consider when creating business models and strategies. Meanwhile, services from the likes of MasterCard, Nokia, Amazon and Google offer examples for others to follow and clues into the future of the industry. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Research in Motion, T-Mobile, Zong and Groupon. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Groupon and LivingSocial dominate the burgeoning market for email daily deals, but the landscape could change quickly as those models expand to the much more complex world of mobile. Here’s what coupon distributors need to keep in mind as they target mobile users. Read more »
Real-time, in-stream advertising targets the readers or followers of content publishers within their stream of updates. For this research, we examine the landscape and its and players: content publishers; advertisers; stream providers such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter; analytics providers; and consumers themselves. Meanwhile, ad networks — those that connect the advertisers to relevant websites — are growing in importance and will continue to build tools to differentiate their offerings. As with most markets, this one is not without its challenges and complications as standards constantly shift and companies grapple with ways of monetizing their offerings. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Google, Ad,ly and RiotWise. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Starbucks is taking mobile payments nationwide with the rollout of payments by smartphone at more than 7,500 locations. The payment system builds off a limited trial from last year and has the potential to push mobile payments into the mainstream for the first time. Read more »
Once an isolated world dominated by network operators and their manufacturer partners, mobile is now a space where “outsiders” are some of the most powerful players. In 2010, companies like Google, Apple, MetroPCS, Huawei and Foursquare were among those who made the most impact in mobile ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Starbucks designed its new Yahoo-powered Starbucks Digital Network as a mobile experience, saying it was logical considering more than half of its free Wi-Fi users use smartphones. Too bad the the portal seems designed first for tablets and laptops and less so for smartphones. Read more »
Starbucks wants to give customers more than just free internet access. Through a new partnership with Apple and Yahoo, the Seattle-based coffee chain will provide customers with free content to enjoy via their Wi-Fi connection. Music, books, newspapers and more are on the menu. Read more »
Geo-fencing is getting a major showcase with a roll-out by UK mobile operator O2 of an offer program that will target a million subscribers with Starbucks and L’Oreal coupons. O2 subscribers who opt in will get discounts on Starbucks and L’Oreal products as they pass by. Read more »
Starbucks is taking a tip from its users and designing its upcoming web landing portal Starbucks Digital Network to be optimized for mobile devices. The site will be built in HTML5, use touch and swipes and will be optimized for iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices Read more »
When we started GigaOM, Liz, Katie and I would sit at my neighborhood Starbucks and co-work. Like us, many entrepreneurs now use coffee shops to work, and since Starbucks is now offering free Wi-Fi, I thought I’d share a few lessons we learned about working there. Read more »
In what must surely be a nod that more establishments offer free Wi-Fi than ever before, Starbucks will do the same in its U.S. stores effective July 1. The free Wi-Fi and launch later this year of Starbucks Digital Network is through a partnership with Yahoo. Read more »
Starbucks Wi-Fi is going free on July 1 in all U.S. company-operated stores. But free Wi-Fi isn’t going to be enough if it becomes available everywhere. Clever use of premium and pay content combined with a wireless connection is the future. Read more »
Coffee lovers with overstuffed wallets rejoice: You can now pay for your Starbucks coffee with your Starbucks Card without actually using a physical card. There’s a catch — you’ll need an iPhone. But if you have one, you can now pay with Starbucks Card Mobile (iTunes […] Read more »
