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Find Starbucks 0.8.0

Find Starbucks 0.8.0 is out! This is a major update with many exciting new features and usability improvements:

1. The application now supports all countries and regions where Starbucks has retail stores. Now you can find Starbucks locations in Beijing, Moscow, Mexico city, and many more exciting places around the globe!
2. Driving/walking directions are now available for the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Directions for more countries will be available in the near future.
3. Faster, more accurate, and more reliable location fix by using both native and Skyhook location providers cooperatively.
4. Fault tolerance improvement by using alternative search methods in case store information cannot be retrieved from Starbucks.

Enjoy!

Find Starbucks in the news!

Boston Globe article

Mobile Marketer article

Screen shots

Click on the image below to open Picasa web album for the upcoming version 0.8.0 of Find Starbucks:

Starbucks web site down -> Find Starbucks store search down

Today Starbucks web site was down with the following information displayed on www.starbucks.com:

	The Starbucks Coffee Company website you are attempting to reach is temporarily down for maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your patience as we improve our site. Please check back at a later time.

Unfortunately, the Find Starbucks Android application gets store information from the website. As a result the store search feature for the application was broken. Because of this event I got a one-star for the application because a new user could not use it. I wish I could pass the one-star to Starbucks but I guess they were experiencing some major website problems. Hopefully we can know more in the near future...

Find Starbucks now has more than 2000 downloads!

Find Starbucks now covers Canada, UK, and Australia in addition to US!

Version 0.6.2 adds the following exciting new featuers:

1. In addition to US, the application now covers Canada, UK, and Australia
2. Search by zipcode or postal code. Now you can find the Starbucks stores around your hotel in London, England before you leave home in Seattle!
3. Configurable search settings such as maximum number of results to return, search radius, and distance units, either Kilometer or Mile.

Comments, suggestions, and bug reports are welcome! I would especially like to hear from users outside US!

Find Starbucks now has more than 1000 downloads!

As of Sunday 06/21/2009 7:45am, there are 1123 total downloads and 702 active installs. 600+ downloads in less than 10 days! Next target: 5000!

Introducing version 0.5.0

Find Starbucks 0.5.0, due out later today, is packed with new and exciting features:

1. Store list map view: In addition to store list, you can view the locations of the stores around her. You can then tap on any pin marker and the store details is shown. You can zoom and pan just like using the Google Map application.
2. Customer reviews with Yelp: See store reviews before you go, and write reviews as you sipping your Latte!
3. Driving/walking directions with Google Map: The Google Map application is now used to show driving/walking directions. Very slick!
4. EULA and product info page.
5. Location service using technology by SKYHOOK Wireless, the location provider for iPhone. It provides more accurate results, especially in urban areas. This feature has been available since version 0.3.0.

Please try it out, you will like it!

Find Starbucks has more than 500 downloads!

As of today 11:00am, there are 506 total downloads and 324 active installs for Find Starbucks! I would like to thank all users for your kind support! Look for more new and exciting features in the near future!

Screen shots

Introducing Find Starbucks

Find Starbucks is an Android application to find Starbucks Coffee locations closest to you no matter where you are. It displays a list of address with phone numbers. You can also get driving directions to help you get there quickly.

Features for the latest version, 0.2.0:

• Use Starbucks Store Search by default. It shows all available Starbucks locations, including the outlets in department and grocery stores like Safeway and Target. It also shows the store details such as if WiFi is available.
• If Starbucks Store Search is not available, Google Local Search is used. Google Local Search is much more stable than Starbucks Store Search, but it returns fewer results because not all Starbucks locations have information in it. In addition it does not show store details.
• Multiple bug fixes.

Known issues which will be tackled in future releases.

• Fonts and page layouts still can still be improved.
• The application icon can still be better.

I strongly encourage all existing users to upgrade to version 0.2.0. If you have questions, issues, and suggestion please comment on this post. Thanks!