Starbucks: We'll be Passbook-ready before October
Starbucks says it will be integrated with Apple's Passbook by the end of the month.The company announced the news on Twitter this morning, providing no further information about features or carryover for current Starbucks card holders. A Starbucks spokesperson told CNET that an update to the company's iPhone app will let current Starbucks Card owners add their account to Passbook.Passbook, which went out as part of iOS 6 earlier this week, is a new application from Apple designed to store membership cards, tickets, coupons, and boarding passes -- a bit like a digital wallet. As an added feature, Passbook does a few things paper and plastic can't, like alert you to changes, and pop up to be readily accessed based on your location.Starbucks already announced that it would be integrating with Passbook, though did not provide a timetable. Nonetheless Apple has promoted the company as one of the initial partners, along with Fandango, Target, and Major League Baseball, the last of which CNET gave a spinthis week at a MLB game.The relationship between Apple and Starbucks dates back to 2007 with a deal that had Apple offering a special Starbucks section of its iTunes Music Store, with Starbucks-curated music picks that would appear when iPhone or iPod Touch users were on the store's Wi-Fi network. Starbucks has since gone on to offer the Pick of the Week program, as well as developed a first-party application that lets users pay for drinks with their iOS device.
