Hasta La Gadget!

The Duracell Powermat and the Power Matters Alliance are charging forward in their quest to make wireless charging of smartphones all the more ubiquitous, today announcing the appointment of several notable companies to the PMA’s shareholder board: Google, AT&T, and Starbucks. Subsequently, said appointments will result in various initiatives involving the wireless charging standard — select Boston-area Starbucks will get PMA standard-based wireless charging spots, AT&T is selling PMA standard-based charging devices in “select markets,” and … uh … Google is just kinda throwing its support in. Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist (best job title ever?) Vint Cerf already serves as honorary member of the PMA’s board, so perhaps that’s more than enough.

Ah, and of course, if you’re into charging mobile devices wirelessly while getting $2,500 Remy Martin bottle service, Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club is also supporting PMA-based wireless charging spots. Of course. For a full list of spots, check the PR below the break.

Continue reading Boston-area Starbucks testing wireless smartphone charging; Starbucks, Google and AT&T back PMA standard

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Peripherals, Google, AT&T

Boston-area Starbucks testing wireless smartphone charging; Starbucks, Google and AT&T back PMA standard originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Power Matters Alliance, which is a wireless power standards group formed by Duracell’s Powermat and Procter & Gamble (parent company of Duracell), is aiming to create wireless power standards for smartphones and other devices under the IEEE’s guidelines. Big companies such as AT&T, Google, and Starbucks have signed up and are now backing the group.

However, the Power Matters Alliance is facing stiff competition from other wireless power standards groups, such as the Alliance for Wireless Power and the Wireless Power Consortium. The WPC is pushing for the Qi standard, which is PMA’s biggest rival and it’s also backed by a number of large hardware vendors like Samsung, Motorola, LG, and HTC.

However, now that AT&T, Google, and Starbucks are on board at PMA, the alliance could make some solid progress in their pursuit for a wireless power standard. Starbucks is planning to pilot a new program where it will bring Duracell Powermat charging stations to 17 Boston locations, and it could lead to a nation-wide rollout in the future.

Not only will the addition of more big-name companies help out the alliance, but the companies themselves that formed the alliance (like Duracell) will see a major boost in publicity and sales. Other companies that are backing PMA include Delta Airlines and General Motors, as well as celebrities like Jay-Z and big-name attractions like Madison Square Garden in New York City.

AT&T, Google, and Starbucks join the Power Matters Alliance is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Starbucks will kick off its Square payments system in early November, with the system expanding to support digital tipping for your favorite barista in summer 2013. The news follows the addition of Starbucks loyalty card to Apple’s Passbook in iOS 6, and will see around 7,000 US locations taking the Square Wallet payments from next month.

Square and Starbucks announced their deal to use the mobile payments upstart back in August. At the same time, Starbucks cut out its existing credit and debit card processing partner, replacing them with Square’s backend, and invested $25m in the firm.

As the mobile app provision increases, Square and Starbucks will make buying a cup of coffee even more straightforward. Passbook will automatically flag up the Starbucks Card on the iOS device’s lock screen when they enter a store, and they’ll be able to pay by “swiping” their phone.

The agreement was lauded as reducing Starbucks’ processing costs as well as increasing Square’s footprint as a payments service provider and making it more likely that users would take the time to install the mobile app. However, the addition of tip support – although tardy after payments in general have been accepted – will offset any shortfall in tipping to store staff themselves, who might suffer from a reduction in cash payments for smaller amounts.

Square hits Starbucks in early-November; Save your tips until Summer 2013 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We all know you have a secret Starbucks addiction that you just can’t seem to kick, but that’s okay — we’re right there with you. If you happen to have a new iPhone 5 or if you upgraded to iOS 6, you’ll be pleased to know that the Starbucks iOS app has added support for Passbooks, meaning you can pay for that Venti White Chocolate Mocha right through your phone.

You’ll have to get a Starbucks Card first if you don’t already have one, but once you get one, you can add your account to Passbook directly through the Starbucks app, which will then allow you to pay for food and beverages, check your card balances, reload your card with more cash, and add rewards to get free drinks. All of this can happen right on your iPhone.

For what it’s worth, though, Starbucks actually allowed customers to pay through their app long before Passbook came along, and it featured some of the same functions that its news Passbook integration features. However, the added Passbook functionality might just be a way for Starbucks to officially get in on a growing and popular payment system.

The Starbucks iOS app sadly doesn’t yet support the iPhone 5′s larger 4-inch screen, which means users are met with with black bars on top and bottom as the app is still in 4:3 format. However, now that Passbook support is in the Starbucks app, we’ll most likely see official iPhone 5 support follow shortly.

The Starbucks iOS app is a free download and the update is available now in the iTunes App Store.

Starbucks iOS app now supports Apple’s Passbook is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When it launched with iOS 6 this Wednesday, Apple’s Passbook mobile-ticketing feature boasted a handful of high-profile partners — including Fandango, Live Nation, Lufthansa and Ticketmaster — but that list still leaves plenty of room for fleshing out. According to Venture Beat, AmEx is launching integration with Passbook later today. The credit card company’s Passbook functionality will include notifications for new account transactions, along with the ability to view your current balance and redeem membership rewards points. The service can also use smartphones’ location to verify charges flagged as suspicious.

Starbucks, which was featured in an early Passbook demo at WWDC, also announced the timeline for its integration with the service, tweeting today that an “update is coming at the end of the month” and offering no further details. Judging by Apple’s earlier previews, Passbook will let customers pay with a Starbucks card. The coffee chain’s Passbook functionality looks to be quite similar to its partnership with Square, which will be the go-to mobile payments option for non-iOS customers when it launches this fall.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

AmEx, Starbucks announce plans for Passbook integration: both live by end of the month originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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