I've been seeing "attwifi" access points at every Starbucks I've been to in NYC, and used the free Wi-Fi at two of them, so I figured the transition was complete at those stores, even though the T-Mobile network was still lingering in the background. Can any Starbucks employees lay out more info as to what's going down with the transition? [Reuters via GigaOM]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, and SEATTLE, Wash., April 25, 2008 — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) today announced the beginning of the rollout of AT&T Wi-FiSM service at company-operated Starbucks stores, kicking off a nationwide effort that will continue through 2008. At the 2008 AT&T Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders in San Antonio, chairman and chief executive officer Randall Stephenson announced that the companies have already started the deployment of AT&T Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations in San Antonio, making it the first market to deliver the complete AT&T Wi-Fi experience in the U.S.

Also, as of May 1, qualifying AT&T high speed Internet and Wi-Fi customers will have complimentary Wi-Fi access at more than 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide. For millions of AT&T customers, that means more speed in more places — and for free — is on its way.

"With the power of our Wi-Fi network, and through our partnership with Starbucks, we're strengthening our ability to meet the needs of today's mobile consumer virtually anywhere and everywhere," Stephenson said. "Expanding our reach across company-operated Starbucks locations nationwide helps us bridge the gap between our wired and wireless offerings and affirms AT&T's commitment to connect people with their worlds, everywhere they live and work."

"We continue to build on the experience we know our customers expect from us," said Chris Bruzzo, chief technology officer, Starbucks. "By partnering with AT&T as our U.S. Wi-Fi provider we aim to deliver a better value, greater convenience and seamless connectivity in a mobility centric world to our customers."

As of May 1, qualifying AT&T customers can connect to the Internet from Wi-Fi enabled company-operated Starbucks locations nationwide by simply selecting "ATTWiFi" after powering up their computers. Free AT&T Wi-Fi service is currently offered with AT&T's three higher-speed residential broadband packages, all small business broadband packages and with all AT&T U-verseSM offerings with high speed Internet service.

For other customers, AT&T Wi-Fi service will reach company-operated Starbucks locations on a market-by-market basis throughout the year. The experience will include a mix of free and paid connection options for both frequent and occasional Wi-Fi users and qualifying Starbucks customers. Once AT&T Wi-Fi service is available, customers will be able to shop and surf both Starbucks' and AT&T's respective home pages for products and services.

The initiative brings together two of the most recognizable global brands to create a powerful and convenient online experience for consumers and business customers. The San Antonio launch delivers on the companies' joint commitment to begin the rollout of AT&T Wi-Fi service this spring.

Besides the spaceship orb on top, it holds more beans than the old machines (more productivity, less sore arms) and actually does give overworked coffee slaves more control over what comes out, like shot length and adjustable steam wands, both of which used to be fixed (from what I know about their current machines). Hopefully, this means better coffee. They'll be in about 30 percent of US stores by the end of this year, and 75 percent by 2010, but I think with a woodier look to them. [Hossli]

I'm not ashamed to admit that the Windows 95 logo made me totally lol. [improveverywhere]

But, since you can use Starbucks Wi-Fi (soon to be better than before), the implicit argument is that you can actually redeem the card at the store without having to return home. If they manage to prevail against Apple and Starbucks, they'll be granted a permanent injunction against the cards unless the pair are willing to pay up. I'm not sure I'd miss the program though, since I've never used it, or even heard of anyone using it. [Apple Insider]

Apparently, Mac fanboys and fangirls are perfectionists, more likely to use teeth whitening products, notebooks over desktop computers, drive station wagons and/or hybrid cars, pay for downloaded music, visit Starbucks frequently. The study also says that Mac users are environmentally conscious and have purchased five pairs of sneakers in the last year. For some reason. Whatever. [The Street via TUAW]

Basically, this blasphemous contraption picks up the gas espresso puts out when warmed, and translates the ion combos into frou-frou meatbag descriptions like "roasted, flowery, woody, toffee and acidity." Since it's a European-produced bolt bucket, for now it only tastes ristretto pulls of espresso, but the goal is to use it as a large-scale quality control agent.

Given the cold, ruthless machine that Starbucks has morphed into, I wouldn't be surprised if they dumped their human taste-testers for these things. Everything else is automated at this point, so why not? Embrace (and taste) the machinic mediocrity. [Analytical Chemistry]

AT&T is promising fatter pipes to boot—a necessity with the certain spike of wireless leechers. If you're not in the privileged classes, monthly subs that work at any AT&T Wi-Fi spot go for $20, while a two-hour hit runs $4. This all hits in the spring.

Am I the only one who finds it strange to suddenly see a Wi-Fi war in 2008, when we should be talking about mobile broadband, 4G—something a little less five years ago? That said, I'm not exactly one to complain about more, free internet access, however it gets to me, and it's good to see AT&T palpably improving its network assets.

More Than 12 Million AT&T, Starbucks Customers to Get Free Wi-Fi Access for a Rich In-Store Experience

New Offering Includes Two Hours of Free Wi-Fi Service Per Day for Starbucks Card Holders Beginning this Spring

All 100,000 U.S.-Based Starbucks Partners to Receive Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks Stores

Seattle, Washington, San Antonio, Texas, February 11, 2008

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) today announced plans to deliver AT&T Wi-FiSM service at more than 7,000 company-operated Starbucks locations across the United States. The initiative brings together two of the most recognizable global brands to create a powerful and convenient online experience for consumers and business customers. Starbucks and AT&T will offer a mix of free and paid Wi-Fi offerings at Starbucks stores to meet the needs of both frequent and occasional Starbucks Wi-Fi customers.

The initiative further expands the AT&T Wi-Fi network, already the largest in the United States, to more than 17,000 U.S. hot spots and more than 70,000 globally.

Beginning this spring, Starbucks Card holders can enjoy up to two hours of free Wi-Fi service per day at Starbucks locations offering Wi-Fi access, while more than 12 million qualifying AT&T broadband and AT&T U-verseSM Internet customers will have unlimited free access to the Wi-Fi service. In addition, more than 5 million of AT&T's remote access services business customers will be able to access Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations. AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at Starbucks to its wireless customers.

"People want to stay connected to their world 24/7, and Wi-Fi hot spots, broadband and wireless make that mobility possible," said Rick Welday, AT&T chief marketing officer, Consumer. "Laptops and smartphones give us the online mobility we crave, and now millions of AT&T and Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of their neighborhood Starbucks."

"This is what our customers have been waiting for — free Starbucks-quality Wi-Fi," said Chris Bruzzo, chief technology officer, Starbucks Coffee Company. "Through our new partnership with AT&T, we also welcome their millions of current customers who can now come in and enjoy free Wi-Fi as part of their daily Starbucks Experience."

As an added benefit for the more than 100,000 Starbucks partners in the U.S., all Starbucks partners will receive free AT&T Wi-Fi accounts allowing them to use the network in Starbucks company-operated locations offering Wi-Fi access.

"Our new relationship with AT&T gives us the opportunity to expand and enhance the range of digital entertainment experiences for our customers as well as our partners, including the continued rollout of the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks," said Ken Lombard, president, Starbucks Entertainment.

In addition to the free Wi-Fi access for qualifying AT&T customers and any Starbucks Card holder, customers will be able to purchase tiered access to the AT&T Wi-Fi network at Starbucks at attractive price points. For a two-hour period, customers will pay just $3.99 per session. Monthly membership will also be available for $19.99 per month, and will include access to any of AT&T's 70,000 hot spots in 89 countries around the world.

AT&T business customers who subscribe to remote access services can also enjoy unlimited, flat-rate access plans at any Starbucks location offering Wi-Fi service or at other AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots.

Additionally, AT&T is providing Starbucks an enterprise-class network with increased bandwidth and redundancy. AT&T's underlying network technologies will enable a wide range of business applications and help Starbucks stores operate more efficiently.

"Delivering networking capabilities to help a world-class company such as Starbucks achieve greater business velocity is what we do," said Welday. "Our work with Starbucks is collaborative innovation at its finest."

The availability of AT&T Wi-Fi service at Starbucks will take place on a market-by-market basis with store implementation beginning this spring and completed by the end of the year.

We asked Phil about why his design used a Semacode to confirm payment when you pick up your order, since Apple didn't use this system and just a regular credit card payment system. His answers was very surprising:

This concept was designed before the Apple patent is widely publicized. Similar to ordering song through the web via iTune account, Semacode works like a digital "receipt," allowing the user to use their iTunes account for the transaction (which will bypass credit card transaction/identification, and speed up the pick-up process).

While these screens look so good that we wish they were the real thing, we will have to wait for next tuesday see how they really look (if Apple announces anything related to that patent, that is.) [Genoco - Thanks Sacha]

It's Not Cheap: An equal amount of this coffee at Starbucks will cost you $1.74, while these TDiscs are $9.29 for a pack of 12 single-serve pods, or $.77 each. However, you'll need to buy one of these single-serve Tassimo hot beverage systems made by Braun, which will cost you about $130 at Target. A bit of quick math tells us you'll need to drink 134 cups to make up the price difference.

Noisy: If you're going to be making coffee early in the morning before anyone else wakes up, this Tassimo brewer is as noisy as a motorcycle sitting outside your front door.

Easy: It's convenient. Pop in a pod, push a button and your coffee is ready in just a minute or two. Might be easier than driving to Starbucks and putting up with all those crowds of poseurs with their pseudo-hip herd behavior.

Taste Verdict: Excellent. The coffee brewed with this little TDisc tastes exactly the same as the coffee you'd get at Starbucks.

All this fuss about Starbucks, and we're not too crazy about its coffee, anyway. It's as strong as a shot of popskull, has a slightly burnt, bitter taste and is way overpriced, but if that's your jones, now you can perfectly reproduce all that at home. If someone could just figure out how to accurately and easily create a Starbucks Frappuccino à chez moi, then we'd be really stoked. [Tassimo]

Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz was there, along with Apple iTunes VP Eddy Cue and musical guest John Legend. There were about 50 or 60 people inside the location (it's the largest of several Starbucks shops around Astor Place, some within view of each other). Shultz made a speech, saying the formation of the store will benefit both "customers and artists" by "allowing music to be discovered in a unique way."

At the event, they handed out Song of the Day cards which will go out free to customers, and let participants test out the service. After Legend debuted his new single "Show Me," Schultz announced that the singer was the first person to purchase a track from their store in Starbucks, but this wasn't the case: I did it about 20 minutes before that dude.

Tomorrow kicks off the official rollout: 600 Starbucks in New York and Seattle will be wired with the iTunes Store, with Starbucks locations in most major cities to be iTunes'd up by the end of 2008. [Apple - iTunes - Starbucks]

Using the T-Mobile HotSpot wireless network with your AT&T iPhone (irony, anyone?), you can now access the iTunes music store. You can also access it with an iPod touch or a laptop, regardless of whether you have HotSpot service or not. Jump on and you are shown Starbucks' version of the iTunes store, and find links to download their in-house choices as well as the last 10 songs played in the coffee shop. Soon, a screen will be installed at every Starbucks allowing customers to see what song is playing, without having to log on (or annoy the barista).

My first attempt at using the service was a little clunky: the store's iPhone version would only let me see featured albums, and I could not download any individual songs. While I was able to successfully download songs using iTunes, some of the links were broken in the site. By the end of the event, though, everything was up and running, and a neat little Starbucks icon popped up on the iTWMS on my iPhone.

The interface of both versions is pretty cool, and it looks exactly like a perfect mix of Starbucks and Apple. Here's a gallery of my different experiences:

If you recall from the Sept. 5 announcement, Starbucks locations in New York and Seattle will be first, on Oct. 2, followed by San Francisco in November, and many more locations in 2008. The Song of the Day promotion will not be limited to these stores, however.

It appears that, for the moment, redeeming the cards will still take a computer running iTunes. I just looked all through the Wi-Fi store on the touch, and can't find any place where you might input a iTunes code. But surely that's something Apple is working on, so we'll keep an eye out.

You don't get your pick—each card is for a specific song—but it doesn't look like they'll be handing out crap. As expected, KT Tunstall and Paul McCartney will have Songs of the Day, but the first selection is "Jokerman," an absolutely brilliant Bob Dylan number, recorded with Mark Knopfler back in the early 1980s for the Infidels album. (Sorry, I'm a fan.) [Reuters, AP]

On their in-store Wi-Fi log-in page (that's a lot of dashes) they have an option for you to order a drink from your computer, that way you don't have waste time standing in line or risk your laptop's safety. Shortly after a barista will magically bring you your order. Now if only they could invent something that would stop you from reeking like coffee afterwards—that's what I'm waiting for. [PSFK]

That's a big change for those coffee drinkers who like to use these little single-serving capsules in their Tassimo Hot Beverage System, that was formally made by Braun but now has jumped ship over to rival appliance maker Bosch. Now you can juice up that coffee jones with the following four varieties of Starbucks coffees: Breakfast Blend, Caffé Verona, Africa Kitamu and that old fave, House Blend. Not that there's been a shortage of variety for this method of brewing coffee by Tassimo Kraft, where PR wags now say there are more than 60 "beverage offerings" for the coffeemakers. Just no Starbucks, until now.

We're just wondering if Starbucks isn't diluting its brand even more, after we heard not long ago about the company offering its supposed gourmet blends in vending machines, of all things. It might be hard to keep the price up while becoming so ubiquitous at the same time, and it might prove to be a challenge to remain exclusive when the company's erstwhile exclusive coffee brands can be brewed by cold, soulless vending machines. [Single Serve Coffee]

[via Make]

In truth, it's not a far cry from the automatic espresso machines that reside on baristas' counters in Sbux already, so the decision to go full-blown automaton was probably an easy one, despite Howard Schtulz's handwringing last month—over none other than the "commoditization" of the brand. Gee Howard, what do you think a 'Bucks vending machine in every office will do to the brand? (Not to mention the coffee. Yech.) What do you guys brew with? – Matt Buchanan

Starbucks hot drink vending machines [Slashfood]

If that wasn't enough, they've also created a specially formatted locator to fit on the small screens of web enabled devices like Treos and Blackberries. The store locator link on their website will reformat automatically for your screen and show you nearest stores, closest WiFi stores, maps, directions, etc. This service is also linked to in-car GPS navigation systems.

Starbucks is promoting this new service by offering a free cup of mediocre coffee to all customers in US stores between 10 am and noon on March 15^th.

Here are some slightly disturbing stats about the ever-ubiquitous Starbucks:

Number of web searches for nearest Starbucks in 1/07 = 3 million
Number of locations in the US = 9,400
Number of new Starbucks stores opened every day = 4

'JAVA' SCRIPT TO TEXT NEAREST *BUCKS CAFE [NYPost]

Schultz discusses MP3 potential for Starbucks [Seattle Times]

Imagine going to your late teens/early twenties clothing store, hearing a great song over the speakers, and being able to immediately download the track to your Zune right there. No need to walk up to the snarky cashier and ask her what the song is. Cool, eh?

This definitely jives with what Stephenson said before about shrinking down Zunes and releasing one with "true" Wi-Fi. – Jason Chen

Microsoft wants Wi-Fi 'filling stations' for Zune II [The Register via Uber Gizmo]

Here are two companies that need to make more money. And to do that, they may just be joining forces to bring you iPod MP3 download stations in Starbucks stores. Now you won't have to deal with those silly themed Starbucks CDs they sell with the packaged coffee. You'll be able to just download the songs you want while you sip your grande mocha skim soy latte. No date set yet for this, but Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, thinks it's not far away.

Starbucks may fill coffee cups, iPods [NY Daily News]