CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs wants to patent a process that will save customers the hassle of waiting to order a cup of coffee at a local Starbucks or a fresh burger at the nearest fast-food restaurant. The technology would let users bypass the line of those ordering in person.
In an application with the U.S. Patent Office & Trademark Office filed on December 20, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer company described a wireless system that would allow customers to place an order at a store using a wireless device such as a media player, [image-nocss] a wireless personal digital assistant or a cell phone, according to a Forbes report.
The system could go far beyond the program that Apple announced with Starbucks in September, which allows iPhone users to press a button and wirelessly download the song playing in the background as they sip their soy lattes.
Apple's patent application describes a process for placing an order and then notifying customers when an order is ready to grab at a pickup station. One goal, the patent application noted, is to avoid an "annoying wait in a long queue if the purchaser arrives before completion of the order."
Another patent application describes a device that also would keep tabs on where a user shops and what he or she likes to buy, said Forbes. Computers at participating stores would keep track of regular customers and their favorite orders. Customers might tap a button to order their favorite drink, say a double-shot mocha, as they stroll up to the nearest coffee shop. When the drink is ready go to, the device would chime or blink to let the user know it is time to pick up the order at the counter.
The patent puts Apple's partnership with Starbucks in a new light. The technology promises to morph Apple from the business of simply selling gadgets and music and movies that can be played on those devices into an intermediary in all kinds of exchanges, said the report.
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