Starbucks Announces Free Wi-Fi, Proprietary Content Network | Epicenter | Wired.com

Starbucks Announces Free Wi-Fi, Proprietary Content Network | Epicenter | Wired.com

Starbucks Coffee Company CEO Howard Schultz (right) announces free Wi-Fi in all Starbucks locations at the Wired Disruptive by Design conference in New York City during a conversation with Wired magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Conde Nast; caption: Howard Schultz).

NEW YORK — Starbucks’ coffee drinks have become synonymous with the high costs consumers are cutting back on these days, but at least the Wi-Fi connections in its stores will no longer require a credit card.
Free Wi-Fi is in my mind just the price of admission.

Starting July 1, Starbucks will let anyone connect to its WiFi network for free. This fall, the company will add a content network called Starbucks Digital Network, in partnership with Yahoo and other sites, which will include local content you won’t be able to read anywhere else. Both offerings will be free.

“Free Wi-Fi is in my mind just the price of admission — we want to create … new sources of content that you can only get at Starbucks,” chairman and president and CEO Howard Schulz told the Wired Business Conference. “This is a thing that doesn’t exist in any other consumer marketplace in America.”

Starbucks hopes to make money from these initiatives indirectly, by “enhanc[ing] the experience” and making the content “so compelling that it drives incremental traffic,” said Schulz as he announced the new initiative at Wired’s Disruptive by Design conference on Monday.

McDonalds has free Wi-Fi too, of course, as does just about every other coffee place in the country other than Starbucks. Schulz admitted that both of those stratas have been competing with Starbucks on coffee as well as internet service, with McDonalds stealing bargain-oriented customers and boutique independent coffee shops in urban areas grabbing some of its loyal epicures.

However, none of Starbucks’ direct competitors have their own localized content networks on the level of what Schulz described. In some communities, Starbucks functions as a sort of community center — a “third place” between home and the office, in Schulz’s words — and this infusion of local news and information, along with a free way to get it, could enhance that effect.

Each customer must log in to Wi-Fi and the Starbucks Digital Network with a unique identifier, so Starbucks won’t only know where you are, but who you are, potentially allowing for targeted messaging to offset cost further. Focus groups have been quite receptive to the free Wi-Fi and local content customers will get in return, says the CEO.

So, where will all of this content come from? Especially, when Starbucks wants it to be updated multiple times a day, so people always see something new.

In addition to the inked partnership with Yahoo, Starbucks is talking to AOL’s Patch.com content-creation division about having it create customized content for the network. In addition, the network will include free online access to the Wall Street Journal, with a percentage of subscription revenue generated when coffee drinkers decide they want to access those articles elsewhere, too."

What’s the Difference Between Viruses, Trojans, Worms, and Other Malware?

Lifehacker's tech-savvy readers are the first people on speed-dial when it's time to heal an infected PC, but how much do you really know about viruses, spyware, scareware, trojans, and worms? Here's a helpful guide to understanding all the different types of malware.

The point of today's lesson, of course, is to help you teach your friends and family more about the different types of malware, and debunk a few of the common myths about viruses. Who knows, maybe you'll learn a thing or two as well.

What’s the Difference Between Viruses, Trojans, Worms, and Other Malware?

The Top 10 Adventure Blogging Tools | The Outside Blog

Somewhere in between the individuals working hard to create a brand for themselves and the companies working hard to make their brand feel more personal, there exists a gaggle of great adventure bloggers. They tell stories and share essential service through videos, photos, podcasts and news analysis. Our favorites include alanarnette.com, The Gear Junkie, Bike Snob NYC, and dirtbagdiaries.com.

At its worst, a blog is used for blatant self promotion and mindless recounting of banal activities. At its best, it's a medium for sharing information in an elegant or humorous way. Kayaking, climbing, surfing, hiking, traveling, cycling, and other adventure pursuits offer plenty of opportunities to tell great stories. If you want to get in the fray, here's a Top 10 list that might help. It's a quick run down of the best tools and resources for creating or improving an adventure blog, with a few guiding principles thrown in the mix. We're not saying it's the ultimate 1-10. We're just getting things started.

Full list of 10 here: The Top 10 Adventure Blogging Tools | The Outside Blog

The Top 10 Adventure Blogging Tools | The Outside Blog

Somewhere in between the individuals working hard to create a brand for themselves and the companies working hard to make their brand feel more personal, there exists a gaggle of great adventure bloggers. They tell stories and share essential service through videos, photos, podcasts and news analysis. Our favorites include alanarnette.com, The Gear Junkie, Bike Snob NYC, and dirtbagdiaries.com.

At its worst, a blog is used for blatant self promotion and mindless recounting of banal activities. At its best, it's a medium for sharing information in an elegant or humorous way. Kayaking, climbing, surfing, hiking, traveling, cycling, and other adventure pursuits offer plenty of opportunities to tell great stories. If you want to get in the fray, here's a Top 10 list that might help. It's a quick run down of the best tools and resources for creating or improving an adventure blog, with a few guiding principles thrown in the mix. We're not saying it's the ultimate 1-10. We're just getting things started.

The Top 10 Adventure Blogging Tools | The Outside Blog

Twitter

“Twitter is a social network used by millions of people, and thousands more are signing up every day to send short messages to groups of friends. But where’s the user manual for Twitter? Where do new Twitter users go to learn about Tweeting, retweets, hashtags and customizing your Twitter profile? Where do you go if you want to know all about building a community on Twitter, or using Twitter for business? How can you find advanced tools for using Twitter on your phone or your desktop? To answer all these questions and more, we’ve assembled The Twitter Guide Book, a complete collection of resources for mastering Twitter. Happy Tweeting!”

- Pete Cashmore, @Mashable

Twitter

Facebook Guide Book: Mashable Launches Hub for Facebook Resources

Whether you’re new to Facebook or an old hat, the magnitude of features and functionality in the enormous social network can still be somewhat daunting. From personal profiles to brand pages and applications to groups, there’s a lot to get up to speed on — and even an expert might have occasion to want a primer on one of the lesser-travelled corners now and then.

Facebook Guide Book: Mashable Launches Hub for Facebook Resources

Resort Support Receives a 2009 Constant Contact All-Star Award — Resort Support

Constant Contact recognizes Resort Support for commitment to best practices in email marketing

Suva, Fiji Islands— 4^th June 2010 – Resort Support today announced that it has received a 2009 All-Star Award from Constant Contact^®, Inc., a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools for small organizations. Resort Support was selected for meeting Constant Contact’s best-practice standards for the use of Email Marketing throughout 2009.

“We have been using Constant Contact for our own email marketing for years, and in 2008 started offering it as a service to our clients. Since then we have been impressed again and again with it’s easy learning-curve and simplicity of use.” said Resort Support director Mr Stuart Gow. “Combined with a delivery success rate off the charts, we couldn;t ask for a better system” he continued. “We are indeed proud that Constant Contact have chosen our company to receive the 2009 Constant Contact All-Star Award”

Resort Support received a 2009 Constant Contact All-Star Award for demonstrating best practices in the effective use of Constant Contact Email Marketing in the following areas:

• Frequency of campaigns
• Open rates
• Bounce rates
• Click through rates

“Our customers work hard to build strong relationships with their customers through email marketing and some, such as Resort Support , truly excel in this effort,” said Gail Goodman, CEO, Constant Contact. “We created our All-Star Awards to highlight those customers who are passionately committed to following our best practices as they work to improve their customer communications. We’re proud of the role we play in helping Resort Support be successful and we look forward to continuing to assist the company with its marketing efforts and supporting its own clients.”

About Constant Contact, Inc.
With more than 350,000 customers, Constant Contact, Inc. is a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online surveys for small businesses, nonprofits, and member associations. Founded in 1995, Constant Contact helps small organizations grow stronger customer relationships by delivering professional, low cost, easy-to-use online tools backed with award-winning support, education and personal coaching. Constant Contact is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CTCT) with offices located in Waltham, Mass.; Loveland, Colo.; and Delray, Fla. To learn more, please visit www.ConstantContact.com or call 781-472-8100.

About Resort Support

Resort Support was established in 1998 to fill a need within the tourism industry for outsourced expertise in management consulting, marketing solutions and business development in the context of small medium tourism properties in the Fiji Islands. The team at Resort Support have been operating many different tourism products throughout the the Fiji Islands and the South Pacific, from dive shops to cruise ships, from hotels to resorts. The two principals of Resort Support are Stuart Gow and Helen Sykes have over 25 years of tourism experience between them operating small-medium tourism products throughout the Caribbean, Central America and the Fiji Islands. To learn more, please visit www.ResortSupportFiji.com or call 679-336-3625.

###

Media Contact

Stuart Gow

679-336-3625

Stuart@ResortSupportFiji.com

Resort Support Receives a 2009 Constant Contact All-Star Award — Resort Support