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From the News Desk
Friday, 28. December 2007
Apple Dreams of Wireless Ordering in Its New Patent
Having become a major force in computers, phones, and music, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is looking to revolutionize yet another industry: food services.
In an application with the U.S. Patent Office filed on past week, Apple described a wireless system that would allow consumers to use a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPod Touch, to place an order at a store before they even get there.
The system would place the order with a computer in the participating store, bill the customer automatically and notify them when their purchase was ready for pickup. The customer could then pick up their purchase from a special counter, thus bypassing other customers in line.
Below is an excerpt from the USPTO.GOV website:
"A processing system is described that includes a wireless communication interface that wirelessly communicates with one or more wireless client devices in the vicinity of an establishment. The wireless communication interface receives a remote order corresponding to an item selected by at least one of the wireless client devices. A local server computer located in proximity to the establishment generates instructions for processing the remote order received from the wireless communication interface. The local server computer then passes the processing instructions to an order processing queue in preparation for processing of the remote order."
If the "wireless communication system" described in U.S. Patent Application No. 20070291710 becomes a product, then it would transform Apple into more than a computer and iPod maker and online seller of music and video. Instead, Apple would also become a middleman between restaurants, cafes, and possibly other merchants and their customers.
However, the patent doesn't address security or privacy issues, nor does it give specifics on the kinds of establishments Apple would be targeting with the system, beyond a reference to picking up coffee. Such an order-processing system could be used in stores beyond restaurants.
Media speculation points to Starbucks as a likely candidate given that the two companies have an existing relationship. Apple in September announced iPhone and iPod owners could connect to its online iTunes store for free over the Wi-Fi networks in Starbucks cafes.
In an application with the U.S. Patent Office filed on past week, Apple described a wireless system that would allow consumers to use a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPod Touch, to place an order at a store before they even get there.
The system would place the order with a computer in the participating store, bill the customer automatically and notify them when their purchase was ready for pickup. The customer could then pick up their purchase from a special counter, thus bypassing other customers in line.
Below is an excerpt from the USPTO.GOV website:
"A processing system is described that includes a wireless communication interface that wirelessly communicates with one or more wireless client devices in the vicinity of an establishment. The wireless communication interface receives a remote order corresponding to an item selected by at least one of the wireless client devices. A local server computer located in proximity to the establishment generates instructions for processing the remote order received from the wireless communication interface. The local server computer then passes the processing instructions to an order processing queue in preparation for processing of the remote order."
If the "wireless communication system" described in U.S. Patent Application No. 20070291710 becomes a product, then it would transform Apple into more than a computer and iPod maker and online seller of music and video. Instead, Apple would also become a middleman between restaurants, cafes, and possibly other merchants and their customers.
However, the patent doesn't address security or privacy issues, nor does it give specifics on the kinds of establishments Apple would be targeting with the system, beyond a reference to picking up coffee. Such an order-processing system could be used in stores beyond restaurants.
Media speculation points to Starbucks as a likely candidate given that the two companies have an existing relationship. Apple in September announced iPhone and iPod owners could connect to its online iTunes store for free over the Wi-Fi networks in Starbucks cafes.
