A few weeks ago, we brought our readers here at Coffee.net a story on how drinking at least one cup of coffee per day could reduce the risk of stroke by 20 percent or more. This week, our attention has been caught by an article published by TheWeek.com that outlines as many as seven health benefits that are linked to daily or regular coffee consumption. However, the one caveat that was explained by The Week contributor Chris Gayomali is that adding cream and sugar to your favorite drink may decrease or even eliminate many of the associated boons that coffee brings.

Fighting Depression And Losing Weight

Those of us who drink coffee on a regular basis (or several times per day like I do) are well aware that a good cup of coffee can go a long way to lift one’s spirits; even when he/she is tired or overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities. It is not uncommon for office workers to put in their highest quality of effort immediately following a java kick; regardless of whether it is in the morning or during an afternoon work session that follows a hefty lunch.

The article published by The Week focused on a combined study by the National Institutes of Health and AARP that conclude that coffee drinkers who consume four or more cups per day are up to 10 percent less likely to suffer from depression than those who do not. That same study showed that the health benefits that alleviate depression do not pertain to other caffeinated drinks such as sugary Red Bulls or colas.

When it comes to weight loss, Gayomali writes that the “use of green coffee-bean extract exploded when Dr. Oz claimed on his show that it ‘burns fat fast’ with no additional diet or exercise. Green coffee beans are seeds that haven’t yet been roasted, thus preserving a compound called chlorogenic acid that disappears when heated. Although limited research has been done on the extract, and no serious side effects were reported in clinical studies, WebMD cautions that the actual weight-loss research so far is ‘preliminary and poor quality.’ While caffeine products generally do help with appetite suppression, the Mayo Clinic suggests that the results of water loss from caffeine consumption or calorie-burning via thermogenesis — when your body generates heat and energy from digesting food — aren’t permanent. When it comes to weight loss, caffeine should be viewed as a supplement, and not a magical cure-all.”

Lowered Risk Of Diabetes And Parkinson’s Disease

The report published by The Week also quoted studies that show heavy coffee drinkers benefiting from a reduced risk of serious diseases such as Type II Diabetes, Parkinson’s and even Alzheimer’s disease. With the growing number of serious illnesses afflicting Americans and individuals across the globe, this is great news for those of us who are regular coffee drinkers.

What’s more is the opinion that drinking coffee could even make your smarter! Because caffeine can block neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for bringing on sleep, the performance of anyone who is tired will often be improved significantly upon consuming caffeine. Military research psychologist Harris Lieberman told CNN years back that “when you’re sleep-deprived and you take caffeine, pretty much anything you measure will improve. Reaction time, vigilance, attention, logical reasoning — most of the complex functions you associate with intelligence. And most Americans are sleep-deprived most of the time.”

Of course, there are still a large percentage of doubters who do not believe in the many studies showing that coffee does indeed help in a number of ways, plus there is still further research that could be done in order to lay out the health benefits in a more concrete manner for those of us who drink coffee daily.

Here’s a mind-blowing statistic for you. The coffee market in India is up a blistering 80% in the last five years, according to the International Business Times and Euromonitor International. Could you imagine if that happened in the United States? Starbucks would quite literally occupy every single building, and a Dunkin Donuts vendor cart would be parked right out front. There would be absolutely no place you could go where coffee would not be forced down your throat.

How is it possible that one country’s thirst for coffee could nearly double in a mere half-decade? According to the Times, the rapid growth of our favorite hot jolt of energy is due to “a surge in consumption among the urban middle class and the rising popularity of retail outlets like Starbucks.”

India is in a unique situation because it is historically thought of a country whose roots are deep in tea, as outlined by the Times. But, there could be a new leading beverage in town: coffee. There’s potentially even a battle brewing (pun intended) over what beverage will be the national drink of India. What team would you be on: Team Coffee or Team Tea? You have to pick, just like in the “Twilight” series.

The Daily Telegraph detailed the ongoing dichotomy between coffee and tea in India: “There is no doubt that coffee has gained significant popularity across India in the last few decades. Chains like Coffee Cafe Day, Barista, and others have a widespread presence in all Indian cities, which makes it evident that people in India like coffee. Coffee has a history, and the decision to make coffee or tea the national drink should be left to the people.” Maybe we’ll see the coffee versus tea debate on a ballot soon!

Any way you slice it, coffee is still second fiddle to tea in India, and it’s really not even close. According to the Times, “The average annual per capita consumption of tea is… 800 grams in India… That figure dwarfs the average 85 grams of coffee that the average Indian consumes annually.” Coffee may be growing exponentially, but it still has a long way to go to catch up with tea. But, perhaps coffee has all of the momentum right now.

The fact that Starbucks moving into a country can mobilize that nation’s coffee-lovers is also pretty impressive. Starbucks has nearly 18,000 stores worldwide and runs a roasting and packaging plant in Coorg, India.

Moreover, in February, the Seattle-based chain opened its “flagship store” in New Delhi, and its menu is not one you’d find walking down the street to your local store anywhere else in the world. In fact, this store whips up dishes like Murg Makhani Pie, a Chicken and Vegetable Lettuce Sandwich, a Reshmi Kabab Roll, and a Lal Achari Mirch Turnover. Nothing says coffee companion like a Lal Achari Mirch Turnover.

Starbucks opened its first three stores in India during the first fiscal quarter of 2013 in partnership with a local company called Tata Global Beverages. It also has its sights squarely set on China, according to the Bangkok Post: “The company plans to boost the number of Starbucks outlets in China to 1,500 by 2015, up from 850 in 70 cities now, 13 years since it entered the mainland… The U.S. coffee company also plans to open its first branch in Myanmar in a couple of years.”

You’ll also see Starbucks focusing on markets like Thailand.

According to Yahoo Finance, Starbucks has a market cap of nearly $50 billion. It recently hit a 52-week high on the strength of its K-cup deal with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Markets like India, China, and Thailand can only provide even more growth opportunities.

The world’s largest coffee retailer Starbucks and specialty coffee maker Green Mountain Coffee Roasters have decided to officially extend their strategic partnership which began back in 2011 with the use of Tazo brand single serve packs in GMCR’s brewing systems. A recent joint announcement by the two companies shines a light on what customers may expect to see in the form of dual product promotion in the future.

A recent press release published by GMCR officials stated, “The new, minimum five-year agreement announced today is a global single-serve coffee industry game changer. Under the new agreement, Starbucks will add brands and varietals to the already robust Starbucks® K-Cup® and Vue® pack portfolio of offerings for Keurig® single cup brewers, ultimately tripling the number of Starbucks® products and adding brands offered on the Keurig® platform. New brands will include Seattle’s Best Coffee®, Torrefazione Italia® coffee, Teavana® Teas, and Starbucks® Cocoa. The new agreement reinforces Starbucks position as the exclusive licensed super premium coffee brand on the Keurig® K-Cup® and Vue® platforms, and further extends the Keurig® system’s position as the exclusive low-pressure single cup brewing system for fresh-brewed Starbucks® coffee, Tazo® tea and the aforementioned Starbucks brands. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.”

Successful Partnership

The cross promotion of so many products may initially be confusing to customers, but some analysts believe that the store’s coffee drinkers have already become accustomed to a larger product selection and have even come to rely on it in some cases. Coffee drinkers in many areas of the world have long since abandoned the traditional hot cup of black coffee in lieu of sweeter, iced cappuccinos and other specialty items that have attracted a much broader audience to the coffee industry as consumers.

Starbucks Chairman, President and CEO Howard Schultz was quoted in the news announcement as saying, “Starbucks new agreement with GMCR strengthens our leadership position in the premium single cup category, the segment of our industry that has grown nine times faster than the overall coffee category during the past year and a category that now accounts for more than 25 percent of total coffee sales in grocery. The new agreement also affords us the opportunity to expand our successful K-Cup® and Vue® pack portfolio of products and brands beyond North America and to market them on a truly global scale over time. It’s a win-win-win agreement for both companies and for premium coffee consumers around the world. Going forward, not only will Starbucks continue to leverage GMCR’s growing installed Keurig® brewer base totaling millions of North American households, but GMCR will directly benefit from the many Starbucks brand assets we bring to bear on the coffee marketplace as it pursues global expansion of its business and platform.”

GMCR’s President and CEO Brian P. Kelley added that “with steady, strong consumer adoption, our innovative Keurig® brewing system has proven to be a disruptive technology for the hot beverage category, providing consumers the benefits of convenience, consistent great taste and — importantly — beverage variety, while providing our partner brands a valuable channel for growth. This agreement further strengthens our North American partnership with Starbucks and expands our relationship to explore global single-serve opportunities. We have been delighted with the performance of the Starbucks brand portfolio and are confident the Keurig® system has significant, untapped potential to continue to change consumer behavior. And we are looking forward to offering a greater variety of premium Starbucks® coffee and Starbucks brands to consumers around the world for the long-term.”

The extended partnership could heavily strengthen the position of both companies in the long-term, and it will be interesting to see how customers react to the new product availability.

Coffee has been consistently knocked throughout the years. “The caffeine inside it is addictive,” say the antagonists. “Plus, it stains your teeth.” Yes, the caffeine inside coffee could be addictive and, yes, the brew might stain your teeth a bit, but a recent study published by CBS Atlanta says that coffee could prevent the recurrence of breast cancer.

It’s not just a sip of coffee, either. According to the recent article, “The findings of a new study indicate that drinking one or two cups of coffee per day could prevent breast cancer from returning. Science Daily is reporting that Swedish researchers discovered a link between the consumption of two cups of coffee or more per day and a reduction in the rate at which the cancer reappeared in women who were also taking Tamoxifen.” Apparently, two cups is the magic number.

According to the same Atlanta news station, half of the 600 women who participated in the study were taking Tamoxifen, with one researcher explaining what was found: “One theory we are working with is that coffee ‘activates’ Tamoxifen and makes it more efficient.” Tamoxifen is a drug that counteracts the development of breast cancer cells.

This isn’t the first time that coffee has been linked to a decline in cancer, either. CBS Atlanta added the following nugget of information: “In the past, scientists at Lund University have cited general cancer risk reduction as a benefit to drinking coffee.” Is coffee now more tolerable by those who knock it? Have you already started brewing a pot while reading this article?

By the way, according to reports, Sweden has one of the highest consumption rates of coffee in Europe. Why? Perhaps because it’s so ridiculously cold.

Wait, there’s more. An article published by CBS Detroit explained that the recurrence of skin cancer and the number of cups of coffee consumed have an inverse relationship: “Harvard researchers found men and women who drank three or more cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing certain types of skin cancer.”

It’s not just cancer that coffee perhaps as a healing effect on. In a July 2012 article, a link between our favorite beverage and Alzheimer’s was found: “The study of 124 older adults with mild cognitive impairment ages 65 to 88 found that caffeine and coffee intake was associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia or a delayed onset of the disease.” This may be simply because of caffeine instead of coffee specifically, but coffee is a certainly primary source of caffeine for many adults.

There also appears to be a stark correlation between coffee and the onset of prostate cancer. In a 2009 interview on NPR, Harvard Medical School Research Fellow Kathryn Wilson shared her findings: “Men who drank the most coffee, more than six cups – or six or more cups per day, had a much lower risk of lethal or advanced prostate cancer. Their risk was about 60% lower than men who didn’t drink any coffee.” That study followed the lives of 50,000 men over the course of 20 years.

Heck, in a recent feature article here on Coffee.net, our own David Huber quoted the following: “Several small studies show that at low doses (between 100 and 250 mg), caffeine improves alertness and mental performance, especially in people who are already tired. Neuroscientists say that it makes us more supportive of each other in social situations. And even found that higher caffeine consumption helped reduce the risk of workplace accidents.”

Is coffee’s addiction really problematic? Other studies over the years have contended that the drink lowers the risk of gout, reduces the lethal effects of cardiovascular diseases, and could even decrease plaque buildup on teeth. We’ll take our coffee, and another cup too.

Recently, we brought our readers a news story on how the concept of “Suspended Coffee” (basically a pay it forward method of advance purchasing a cup of coffee for a future person in need) was beginning to catch on in various parts of the world; especially the United Kingdom. Over the weekend, we were happy to see an article published on the Seattle Times official blog that highlighted a local Wallingford Cafe manager named Ashley Mengoni, who has founded The Essential Baking Sospeso Project.

The project runs along the same lines as the traditional suspended coffee concept in that customers can exercise their option to purchase a cup of coffee in advance which can then be used by another person who would like a cup of coffee but does not have the financial means to purchase it. In the Wallingford Cafe, these future cups of coffee are converted in the form of tokens and placed in a glass jar along the counter so customers can easily spot it and make use of it if need be.

Potential Abuse?

Some of the suspended coffee concept’s harshest critics argue that over a long period of time, the program will eventually be abused by customers who are looking to take advantage of a free cup of coffee or that customers will lose interest and stop contributing. While these are realistic possibilities, we were happy to read that so far, Mengoni has experienced quite the opposite. As a matter of fact, none of the free coffee tokens have been used so far on her shift.

The lack of usage could mean that the program has not yet reached a significant percentage of people and that word-of-mouth notifications have not had enough to to sink in to the large Seattle population – some of which would be highly likely to enjoy a free cup of coffee thanks to the project.

In her Seattle Times blog entry, contributor Rebekah Denn wrote that “the ‘suspended’ idea has spurred plenty of debate since the idea went viral, with questions about whether it’s logistically practical, whether people would abuse the system, and whether the money would be better spent other ways, such as giving it to food banks. Far from being abused, though, Mengoni said the only issue since starting the program a few days ago is that no one has redeemed a token yet on her own shifts. She’s trying to get the word out more to people in need that they’re available. And she agrees that people who are homeless or generally in need could use more than a cup of coffee. Next up for debate: Whether the cafe could add an option to use the tokens for food as well. A lot of people, as it turns out, weren’t just willing to pay a coffee forward.”

This raises a very interesting yet highly controversial idea of just how far the pay it forward concept can go before it is eventually abused or cast aside as paying customers lose interest. Although there is an enormous amount of goodwill behind the actions of those who have participated in the program, it remains to be seen how or if the baristas at the counter will qualify who is able to make use of the free tokens to receive a cup of coffee on behalf of a contributing citizen. However, as long as the demand is low, those who have participated so far can likely expect a growing number of tokens to be available counter-side for customers to donate and make use of when needed.

What are your thoughts on the suspended coffee concept? Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Here’s something you don’t see every day. CharityBuzz.com is holding an online auction benefiting the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and one of the items you can bid on is coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook. Bidding closes on May 14 and, at the time of writing, the once-in-a-lifetime experience costs a whopping $230,000, with a minimum bid of $235,000. Seriously, that’s nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars for coffee. Could you buy your own Starbucks with that money?

A total of 62 bids have been placed so far, starting with an opening bid of $5,000. The action escalated quickly from there, passing $100,000 in fairly short order. Drinks will be shared at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California and, according to a press release about the auction, you won’t get the chance to sip along with Cook very often.

The press statement touted, “In an unprecedented donation, Apple CEO Tim Cook is offering the opportunity for a winning bidder and guest to join him for coffee at the Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. The experience, valued at $50,000, marks the first time one-on-one access to Cook has been offered on the auction block.” Cook became Apple’s CEO two years ago and was named a runner-up in Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2012.

The experience itself is for two people and will last between 30 minutes and an hour. Perhaps your time spent depends on how hot the coffee is and how much of it Cook has already had. Also, winners are expected to be on their best behavior: “Winning bidder and guest(s) subject to security screening. We expect all winning bidders and their guests to conduct themselves appropriately when attending an experience won at CharityBuzz. Polite manners and respect for the generous donor and adherence to any rules or parameters are a must.”

The rest of the auction is quite impressive and features a ton of heavy-hitters. Other experiences you can win in the Kennedy Center auction include acting in a scene with Chris Hemsworth, lunch with Francis Ford Coppola in Napa Valley, meeting Alec Baldwin on Broadway, meeting Robert De Niro at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival in New York, a private cooking lesson from Paula Dean, a tour of Jay Leno’s car collection, and meeting Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

Despite these unique and memorable experiences, coffee with Cook has the highest bid at the time of writing, and it’s not even close. In fact, the next highest bid comes in at just $7,500 and is for a tour of the SpaceX Center in Los Angeles, where you’ll meet Elon Musk. Cook’s experience has 61 bids, the most by nearly six times, as the next highest number of bids on an item is 10 for attending a New York Giants game with four 50-yard-line coach club tickets, a pre-game field tour, and a VIP parking pass.

Word of Cook’s coffee date has spread like wildfire across the internet, even attracting the attention of Forbes and the Huffington Post. The latter joked about the sky-high price, saying, “That better be some really good coffee… With this level of bidding, Cook’s headed into some pretty rarefied territory. At a 2012 charity auction, a meet-and-greet with Oprah went for $105,000, and a day spent with Bill Clinton was sold for $255,000.”

If Cook elects to take the lucky winner out of Apple’s campus for some coffee, Peet’s Coffee and Tea is located 0.7 miles away, according to Google Maps, the same distance as a local Starbucks. In fact, there are four Starbucks located within one mile of Apple’s headquarters. If only we could be so lucky with the home office of Coffee.net.

This past week has officially been “Coffee Week” for NPR, which has run a series of blog entries focusing on the benefits and joys of drinking one of America’s favorite beverages. One of the main points of contention has been how much caffeine serves as a stimulant along with its overall effects on the human body and mind. Those of us who drink coffee on a regular basis may be able to attest to how helpful the drug can be, but there are still a number of doubters who have experienced negative effects related to coffee drinking as well.

Caffeine Benefits

Personally speaking, I drink coffee just about every day – and a lot of it. On an average day I may consume anywhere between 3-7 cups of my favorite drink, and I rarely mix in cream, sugar or any other substitute, as I was raised on drinking coffee without the frills. Back when my radio career began when I was 16 and still in high school, I can still remember how those who began their live on-air shifts at 5:00am made sure that there was a fresh pot of coffee (or two) ready to go well before sign on. As a matter of fact, I was introduced to coffee drinking as if it were a part of my daily fundamental tasks; equally as important as spinning records or taking phone requests.

For me, coffee is a stimulant which rarely has side effects, but I understand that each person is different. At times, I may be stuck with writer’s block or otherwise fatigued over a busy day or experiencing everyday stress that revolves around being a parent… this is when coffee works its magic in my opinion. It only takes a few minutes for the mind to become stimulated and ready to create once I begin drinking a hot cup of coffee, and it is a routine I look forward to on a daily basis; although there have been times when I’ve gone longer than one week (usually when I’m on vacation) without enjoying my favorite beverage.

Eliza Barclay of NPR wrote earlier today in the website’s official blog that “there’s a huge amount of variation in how caffeine affects individuals, which depends on genetics, tolerance and other factors. But several small studies that at low doses (between 100 and 250 mg), caffeine improves alertness and mental performance, especially in people who are already tired. Neuroscientists that it makes us more supportive of each other in social situations. And even found that higher caffeine consumption helped reduce the risk of workplace accidents. As with all drugs, there is such a thing as too much caffeine. According to a 2001 Institute of Medicine , 600 mg of caffeine (or six cups of coffee) will bring on negative cognitive effects, otherwise known as the jitters, in most people — from Seinfeld. And some people are so sensitive to caffeine that one cup will bring on nervousness and irritability, rather than the alertness that most of us feel.”

Coffee Variety

When I was a kid, we didn’t really have much to go on in the form of cappuccinos, lattes, and other concoctions that are now widely available at sites such as Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc. This is probably one of the main reasons why I became so accustomed to drinking black coffee, as there weren’t a lot of choices besides milk, cream or sugar when it came to flavors (no chocolate sprinkles or cinnamon).

However, that has changed since the turn of the century; attracting a much larger percentage of the populace to try out flavored beverages – both hot and cold.

If you head to the aptly named Coffee Bar in the Mission District of San Francisco, not only can you grab a brew, but you can also grab your mail. Yes, it may seem odd getting packages delivered to a coffee shop, but think of it logically: if you’re going to be at a coffee shop anyway getting a drink, why not also get pick up important parcels? After all, you wouldn’t want them sitting out in the rain on your doorstep right? Or thrown in the woods on the side of the road?

Say hello to the BufferBox, powered by Google. It’s brightly colored, has a yellow “X” on it, and looks more like a safe than a machine you can use. TechCrunch explained the allure of the contraption: “BufferBox gives you a single-use address and locker number to have your items delivered to. Since worrying about packages being left on your doorstep, or, worse, missing the package delivery altogether is a pain, picking something up from a place that you go to every day on your way to work is appealing.”

The last thing you want to do is go to the Post Office, wait in line for an hour with a little beige slip of paper, and then sign for it only to realize it wasn’t a care package from grandma. Say goodbye to your lunch hour and those 20 pounds you would have gained by eating grandma’s peanut butter cookies. With BufferBox, the work is done for you. Plus, you can have a cup of coffee, which you can think of as a reward for being so savvy with your day.

The BufferBox concept was originally popularized in Toronto, where the chain has taken up shop at quick and easy-to-find retail locations like 7 Eleven, Sobeys, and transit stations. Again, if you know you’re going to stop at these places anyway, having a package delivered to them makes perfect, logical sense. Now that Google owns BufferBox, it’s expanding to the United States.

This certainly isn’t the first time coffee houses have been turned into experiences rather than just a place to get a hot beverage. In L.A., you’ll find the Library Coffee House, for example, which has quite literally brought the library to a coffee shop. There are stacks and stacks of books, wireless internet, and a host of menu items to give you an excuse to curl up with a good book. Heck, you can even get ice cream and cake.

This author lives near Borders and Books-a-Million locations that both have coffee shops within their walls. You can get a coffee, search for your favorite book, buy a t-shirt from the local college, and even test-drive an iPad Mini, all from the same location. Coffee is becoming less and less a stopover during the day and more and more a destination.

Barnes and Noble offers extensive educational classes on its Nook that you can enjoy with a warm cup of coffee from its café. You can also attend book signings and bring your children along to hear a story, all in one location.

Coffee Bar boasts that it offers work spaces in its stores and that its “open, modern space is the ideal backdrop to any part of your day and we hope you feel the same.” As this author can attest to from working at multiple Starbucks, having ample electrical plugs and a stable wireless internet connection are extremely important. Bringing along a power strip and a Verizon MiFi is a pain in the rear.

For self-employed people, coffee shops are an outlet to being social. Instead of sitting in their underwear doing work, the work-from-homers can venture out to their local coffee shop and be productive for a few hours, all the while interacting with real, live people. And with amenities like the BufferBox, your trip to the coffee shop just got even more exciting.

Coffee shops have transformed themselves several times since the early 90s when friends gathered within them to share their favorite hot or cold beverage while socializing and listening to music on portable CD players with earphones. Nowadays, all-in-one devices such as smart phones and tablet computers have revolutionized the informal outing into an even that is much more interactive and combines verbal communication with an almost intimate relationship between cell phone users and their touch screens.

However, high quality real time navigation usually comes at the expense of one’s mobile battery, which can quickly wear down and leave the customer desperately searching for a wall outlet to plug the device in; temporarily restricting use in some cases. However, a recent deal between Nokia and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf shops could bring in additional traffic according to some sources due to free wireless charging docks that will now be provided to paying customers as they drink, snack, and socialize.

Wireless Charging Technology

Wireless charging is a somewhat underused technology even for 2013 due to its limited exposure. The way the concept works is that some cell phone devices comes with a chargeable Back Panel which can simply be laid on a charging dock to automatically regain its electric juice. This in many ways saves the actual user the time and inconvenience of actually having to connect a cord and plug something into a wall outlet because the mobile phone can be placed on a mat and recharged virtually hands free.

Over the weekend, CNET.com contributor Jessica Dolcourt published an article outlining her initial experience with the new service. “Earlier this week, I finally saw Nokia’s power-promotion installed at my favorite Coffee Bean location on San Francisco’s busy Market Street. What a sorry sight it was. Market Street is a bustling downtown location, so I’m not entirely surprised that Nokia’s promotional sign is crammed in tight. Unfortunately, its image of the yellow Lumia 920 is only visible from a side angle, and almost completely obscured by customers and a table. In front of the sign, the wooden, six-seater table in question houses two towers of power outlets and sports disintegrating printed paper urging you to lay your Qi-compatible phone down right there to give it a power top-up.”

Dolcourt added that hiding the actual charger and embedding it tightly within a desk is one sure-fire way to reduce the change of someone actually ripping the port off while also improving aesthetics.

How Will Customers React

Whether the newly provided complimentary service will actually entice customers to spend more time and money in coffee shops is something that only time will tell. While the traditional coffee retail outlet has held its own as a “go to” place for individuals and groups who just want to hang out or enjoy some time off before/after business hours, some places can quickly lose their charm; especially when considering how many other competing establishments are currently catering to mobile device and tablet computer users.

The addition of iTunes Gift Cards, an amazingly wide variety of beverages and snacks, wireless Internet, along with comfortable indoor/outdoor seating have undoubtedly played a large role in actually getting coffee drinkers in the door to sit down to a $10 quick meal, but can the trend continue? If so, how important will wireless charging be? While the actual charging ports themselves may be bolted down in some cases, simply laying your cell phone down on a pad and leaving it semi-unattended to for even a brief moment could result in theft – something that is slightly less likely to happen when the device is plugged in and connected to a cord.