Wifi Revolution

Steve Jobs, CEO at Apple (News - Alert), is reportedly seeking to patent a wireless system that would allow customers to place an order at a store or coffee shop using a wireless device such as a media player, a wireless personal digital assistant or a cellphone.

Forbes reports that in an application, number 20070291710, filed with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office on December 20, Apple describes the system as a process that places an order and then notifies customers when an order is ready to grab at a pick-up station. One goal, the patent application notes, is to avoid an “annoying wait in a long queue if the purchaser arrives before completion of the order.”

If the proposal becomes the product, each customer using the system would be given a unique identifier for tracking the locations they visited and also what they bought from the store. According to an Information Week report, the information would be stored in the devices and synchronized with the computers of participating merchants.

Analysts believe that the system would benefit customers, who would like to avoid the wait in line to order their favorite beverages or delicacies. They also suggest that the system would also have benefits to restaurant owners who would like provide more than excellent service.

The latest patent application offers more than what Apple is offering through its Starbucks partnership. Apple had partnered with Starbucks in September, which allows free WiFi access in its coffee shops for iPhone or iPod Touch owners who want to download music.

Starbucks is planning to offer the service through its paid T-Mobile (News - Alert) WiFi network in more than 1,150 stores in the United States by March, and plans to add more locations in U.S. later.

In December, Apple has applied for 12 patents, and reportedly was granted eight others.

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Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

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