Well, There's More Than One Route to Unlimited iPad Connectivity: Here's a Welcome Announcement from Starbucks!

Just in time to provide some balm for all the iPad owners who have been wounded by Apple's abandonment of its earlier commitment to unlimited $30-per-month iPad 3G wireless (see our story on the ensuing class action lawsuit here), we've got welcome news from Starbucks:

Starbucks Previews Free One-click Wi-Fi and Next Generation In-store Digital Content Offering

WIRED’s Business Conference “Disruptive by Design” provides stage to announce Starbucks plans for enhanced digital experience in U.S. stores

WHAT:    Appearing at WIRED’s Business Conference Disruptive by Design today, Howard Schultz talked with WIRED’s Chris Anderson about “Evolving the Starbucks Experience in an Ever-changing World.”  Schultz recounted the challenges of leading the Starbucks transformation following his return to the company as CEO in 2008.  With a focus on lessons learned, Schultz’s talk included how the company sought to embrace social and digital media and continues to look for new ways to bridge the third place coffeehouse experience with the digital world.   As part of this commitment, Schultz recognized customers’ desire for a better in store Wi-Fi experience and announced that on July 1, Starbucks will turn on one-click, free Wi-Fi through AT&T in all U.S. company operated stores.

Building on the Wi-Fi update, Schultz also revealed plans for a new online customer experience called the Starbucks Digital Network, in partnership with Yahoo!, which will debut later this fall.  This online experience – available only in U.S. company operated Starbucks stores – will be unique in its content offerings, allowing customers free unrestricted access to various paid sites and services such as wsj.com, exclusive content and previews, free downloads, local community news and activities, on their laptops, tablets or smart phones. 


Driven by Digital Ventures, a new business unit within Starbucks led by CIO and General Manager, Digital Ventures, Stephen Gillett, the Starbucks Digital Network in partnership with Yahoo! opens up a uniquely valuable customer experience, while at the same time appeals to leading online content providers and provides a new channel for customer engagement.  Launch content providers will include, among others, iTunes, The New York Times, Patch, USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! and ZAGAT.
    
WHEN/KEY DATES:     

• Howard Schultz featured speaker at WIRED Business Conference:  June 14, 2010
• Free, One-Click Wi-Fi  Arrives at all U.S. company operated Starbucks stores:  July 1, 2010
• Starbucks Digital Network debuts in U.S. company operated Starbucks stores:  Fall 2010

(Thanks to Bufo Calvin of ILMK for the tweet!)

It Was Just a Matter of Time: Apple, AT&T Hauled into Court over Abandonment of iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, a national law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville, has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T over those companies' abrupt abandonment of the heavily promoted unlimited $30 per month data plan for the iPad 3G.

"Plaintiffs allege that in the marketing of the 3G model, Apple and AT&T deceptively promoted that consumers could both sign up for an unlimited data plan and have the ability to switch, month by month, between that unlimited data plan or one with a 250MB limit as their needs changed," according to the Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP website.

"As of June 7, 2010, Apple and AT&T have decided to discontinue the "unlimited data" plan they promised in connection with their sales of 3G-enabled iPads. Apple and AT&T had promised consumers flexibility with their data plans, allowing them the ability to switch back and forth between the limited and unlimited data plans.

"Plaintiffs allege that iPad purchasers who initially opted for the limited data plan have been stripped of their ability to later opt for the unlimited data plan, and even those customers currently signed up for the unlimited data plan cannot switch to a limited plan and then later opt for the unlimited plan again as was originally promised. Apple and AT&T announced this policy change with less than one week's notice to their customers and only about a month after Apple and AT&T began selling 3G-enabled iPads.

"In the complaint, consumers allege that they were convinced to opt for the more expensive 3G model ($130 more than a non-3G model) based on the advertised benefits of having an unlimited data plan, as well as the freedom to continually switch in and out of that plan as their demands for data changed.

"Plaintiffs seek to represent a nationwide class consisting of all individuals and entities within the United States who purchased an Apple iPad 3G with an AT&T service plan."

If you're interested or want to learn more, you can click here to see the attorneys' website or here to view a PDF of the complaint or download it to your iPad.