Starbucks Adds Specialty Coffee Delivery Service Subscription

Starbucks launched a delivery service Tuesday, just not the long-awaited service it’s been touting for the past few months. Instead, the company unveiled a small-batch monthly delivery subscription service of recently roasted coffee.

The Wall Street Journal reports the Reserve Roastery Subscription service is part of the coffee company’s ongoing efforts to entice customers with upscale java.

Officials with Starbucks say the service, which costs $24 for a month or $288 for a year, allows subscribers to receive an 8.8-ounce bag of Reserve coffee within three to five days of being roasted at the company’s Seattle roastery.

“Starbucks Reserve Roastery subscriptions are – aside from visiting the Roastery and having our partners scoop the coffee right in front of you – the freshest, fastest and most innovative whole bean coffee experience in the marketplace,” Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Starbucks, said in a statement.

According to the WSJ, Starbucks has been working to woo a growing niche of specialty coffee lovers by increasing the number of independent roasters it works with.

Back in September, the company began selling a line of single-origin coffees. The company also announced plans to open 100 specialty Starbucks stores selling only small-batch coffees.

Starbucks Launches Small-Batch Coffee Delivery Service [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

BlackBerry Suing Makers Of Slip-On iPhone Keyboard Again, Claiming New Version Is Infringement

BlackBerry has a bone to pick with Typo, the makers of a slip-on iPhone keyboard that the mobile phone company already sued once with claims that the case infringes on its patents, and it’s not ready to let that bone go anytime soon. A new lawsuit against Typo is now on the books, this time aimed at the company’s second iteration of slip-on accessories

After BlackBerry sued the first time around, it gained an injunction stopping Typo Products from selling its slip-on keyboard that appealed to people like financial backer Ryan Seacrest for the very reason that it’s similar to the feel of a BlackBerry device.

A federal judge later said BlackBerry was due $860,000 after it claimed Typo continued to sell the original case.

But in the meantime, Typo came back with another version, the Typo 2, saying this time everything was on the up and up and it wasn’t infringing on BlacKberry’s intellectual property rights this time.

Not so, alleges Blackberry is the new lawsuit, reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

“Just as they did with the Typo Keyboard, Defendants have again copied numerous proprietary BlackBerry designs and patents in the Typo2 Keyboard,” states the complaint. “The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models. The Typo2 Keyboard also infringes numerous BlackBerry utility patents related to BlackBerry’s proprietary keyboard design, backlighting and typing automation technologies.”

The lawsuit is seeking damages as well as another injunction barring Typo from selling the Typo 2, and to “put an end to Defendants’ pattern and practice of unlawful conduct.”

BlackBerry Dials Up Second Lawsuit Against Ryan Seacrest’s Typo (Exclusive) [The Hollywood Reporter]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

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N.Y. Museum Announces Creation Of World Video Game Hall Of Fame

(Alan Rappa)

Why should traditional toys have all the accolades? Not content to keep all the honors for toy soldiers and board games, the upstate New York museum that runs the National Toy Hall of Fame is adding a new attraction to its rolls with a new World Video Game Hall of Fame.

The Strong museum in Rochester, N.Y. (which is also home to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games) announced the new hall today, saying it’ll recognize any electronic game of any type.

That means arcade, console, computer, handheld and mobile games, all of which can be nominated by anyone, the museum said in a press release.

After a game is nominated, an internal advisory committee will choose finalists to send on to an international selection committee of experts. Inductees will earn a spot after being judged on four criteria: icon-status, longevity, geographical reach and influence.

The nominations for the inaugural class will be accepted online at worldvideogamehalloffame.org through the end of March.

The winning inductees will be announced in June, and initially displayed and interpreted in a section of the Strong’s eGamesRevolution exhibit.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Demand That Phone Companies Give Consumers Free Tools To Block Robocalls

(Dan Coulter)

While federal regulations and the Do Not Call list have significantly cut down on some auto-dialed, prerecorded messages, the problem of illegal robocalls still persists, mostly because scammers don’t care if they break the law. There are various technologies that phone companies could use to preempt even more of these calls but most consumers don’t have access to them.

That’s why our colleagues at Consumers Union have just launched a new online campaign at endrobocalls.org, where people can sign a petion demanding that telephone companies provide consumers with access to free tools to keep robocalls at bay.

Examples of existing tech that could be deployed to curb these obnoxious, and often illegal, calls include systems that identify telemarketing calls and give users the option of blocking, answering, or sending to voicemail. Other services let users “whitelist” certain numbers that can call without restriction while the rest would need to provide a name before the recipient decides whether or not to answer the call.

These sorts of technologies have been deployed in other countries, and Consumers Union says they have resulted in a significant drop in the number of unwanted calls.

While some phone service providers have claimed they don’t have the authority to allow consumers to block robocalls, Consumers Union recently filed comments with the FCC detailing the ways in which the law already gives phone companies the ability to offer call-blocking options to consumers.

“Americans are sick and tired of robocallers that invade their homes and try to rip them off with predatory scams,” said Christina Tetreault, staff attorney for Consumers Union. “It’s time for phone companies to stop dragging their feet and empower consumers to put an end to unwanted robocalls.”

To add your name to the more than 75,000 who have already signed the petition go to endrobocalls.org.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

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Una presentación sobre Almacenamiento en la Nube y Cloud Computing.

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Krispy Kreme Rethinks ‘KKK’ Promotion In The UK

(Facebook)

The corporate office for Krispy Kreme in the UK drew up a calendar of fun activities for the chain to offer to kids during their midterm break from school. Activities include coloring, face painting, board games, and KKK Wednesday. Wait, what? That stands for “Krispy Kreme Klub,” not “Ku Klux Klan,” but the promotion has been pulled anyway.

Maybe no one would have noticed the double meaning of the acronym had the schedule of events not been posted to Facebook. There, everyone could laugh at an international doughnut shop headquartered in the American South naming a weekday promotion after a notorious group that has historically fought progress and equality for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. If you know that context, the simple label of “KKK Day” with no explanation of what that includes is baffling.

The “Krispy Kreme Klub” is actually a day for kids to gather at the shop and decorate their own doughnuts. That sounds very fun, and not at all racist.

In a statement to media, Krispy Kreme’s branch in Hull, where this was one of many activities scheduled for the school break, explained that this was not intentional, and that the KKK Day signs have been removed.

This was sent from head office so it has been advertised at all the outlets.

But we have now taken down the sign from our point of sale.

We don’t have a new name for the event yet but it is still going ahead this week.

“Decorate Delicious Donuts Day”? How about that? Just leave your pointy hoods at home, please.

Krispy Kreme Hull drops ‘KKK Wednesdays’ name over Ku Klux Klan blunder

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Analyst Downgrades Odds Of Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger

An important industry analyst who had previously placed decent odds on Comcast being allowed to spend $45 billion to acquire Time Warner Cable is now looking at the deal in a less-sunny light, downgrading the likelihood of the merger succeeding.

Variety reports that MoffettNathanson Research, which already reduced the odds of merger approval to 70%, has now cut that figure again to 60%, “to reflect stiffening political headwinds.”

“If anyone doubts the hostility of the regulatory climate in Washington now, imagine how clear it would be on the morning after a rejection,” writes analyst Craig Moffett. “These risks must at least be acknowledged.”

At the same time, the report downgraded the stocks of Comcast, TWC, and Charter — which stands to swap a few million customers with the other two companies if the merger goes through — to “neutral,” also because of cord-cutting customers and what Moffett sees as darkening regulatory clouds.

While the FCC has expressed no interest in regulating broadband pricing, Moffett appears to be spooked by the mere possibility that the feds may someday meddle with what ISPs can charge for service.

“It would be naive to believe that the imposition of a regime that is fundamentally about price regulation, in an industry that the FCC has now repeatedly declared to be non-competitive, wouldn’t introduce risk to future pricing power,” Moffett explains, according to FierceCable.com.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

McDonald’s Testing “Shakin’ Flavor” Seasoning On Both McNuggets And Fries In Nevada

Not content to let seasoned dust fall only on French fries in California, McDonald’s has now expanded its test of Shakin’ Flavors to its chicken McNuggets in some Nevada locations as well. Again, this just sounds like a great big salty mess waiting to get all over our hands.

BurgerBusiness.com reports that the flavor-in-a-bag idea is debuting at Northern Nevada McDonald’s locations, with the same seasoning varieties available both nuggets and fries that it had test earlier in California: zesty ranch, chipotle BBQ and garlic parmesan.

While it’s surely interesting to experiment with new flavors for some old offerings, as we’ve pointed out in the past, giving customers a packet of dry seasoning meant to be dumped in a thin, paper McDonald’s bag is only one small tear away from an annoying mess, or [gasp!] the loss of a nugget/fry.

Seasoning is free though, so at least it’d be a free annoying mess.

McDonald’s Takes Shaker Idea to McNuggets [BurgerBusiness.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Student Loan Debt Increased $77B In 2014, One In Nine Loans Now Past Due

(Phil Jones)

Student loan debt reached an all-time high and delinquency rates continued to rise last year, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found.

Bloomberg reports that data [PDF] from the New York Fed shows student loan debt increased $31 billion last quarter, bringing the total student debt to $1.16 trillion – a 7.1% increase over debt in 2013.

The $31 billion increase brings the total 12-month increase for 2014 to more than $77 billion.

According to the New York Fed, 11.3% of student loans were delinquent (90 days past due) in the final three months of 2014, up from 11.1% in the first three quarters of the year.

The Associated Press reports such high delinquency rate translates to one in nine student loans being past due.

Officials with the New York Fed say that while the level of delinquencies already appears high, it’s likely understated.

About half of all student loans are in deferment, in grace periods or in forbearance, temporarily removing them from the repayment cycle.

Although delinquency rates have decreased from the record 11.8% in 2013, they remain about 6% higher than a decade ago, the New York Fed reports.

“Although we’ve seen an overall improvement in delinquency rates since the Great Recession, the increasing trend in student-loan balances and delinquencies is concerning,” Donghoon Lee, research officer at the New York Fed, said in a statement.

As previous studies have found, the New York Fed report reiterates findings that high student loan debt and delinquencies appear to be “reducing borrowers’ ability to form their own households.”

Student-Loan Delinquencies Rise in U.S. [Bloomberg]

1 in 9 student loans past due, limiting ability to buy homes, NY Fed says [The Associated Press]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist