Taco Bell Introducing Mobile Ordering Nationwide Later This Year [iOS Blog]

Taco Bell is planning to roll out its mobile ordering platform nationwide later this year, according to a report from Nation’s Restaurant News, an industry trade publication. Taco Bell has been developing its new mobile ordering app for two-and-a-half years, testing the platform at five stores in California.

A number of other restaurants have supported mobile ordering, including Chipotle, as well as pizza restaurants including Domino’s and Pizza Hut. However, a quick-serve restaurant like Taco Bell provides a different type of service with much less customization and customers that expect prompt turnaround on orders.

The app will allow users to find their closest restaurant, display pricing specific to that location along with customized menu selections and more. Users will be able to use Taco Bell gift cards or stored credit cards, with orders flagged in the restaurant as from a mobile device. Then, the app determines the users’ location to determine when they are near the restaurant and only then will it send the order to be prepared.

Workers will be challenged to maintain speed of service during peak hours, when restaurants are receiving a steady flow of mobile orders at the same time guests are lined up at the counter. However, [Jeff Jenkins, mobile lead for Taco Bell] contends that mobile ordering will help eliminate some of the drag caused by consumers with “menu board anxiety,” as well as improving accuracy. When ordering by smartphone, for example, guests can take their time deciding whether to add sour cream or remove the cheese without holding up the line. “It’s really more about convenience and customization,” he noted.

Taco Bell told NRN that it expects young Millennials, its primary customer demographic, will embrace the mobile ordering platform. NRN claims that 74 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34 said they would order takeout/delivery on a mobile device, if it were available.

According to Jenkins, Taco Bell’s mobile lead, “Mobile is the biggest shift in QSR since the drive thru” and “if you can get 10 million people to download your app, you’re putting a portal to Taco Bell in 10 million pockets.”

Taco Bell has an existing app, but the new mobile ordering is expected to roll out nationally later this year.

iWatch Concept Images Show Curved Screen, Thick Band, and Sensors [iOS Blog]

While some hints about the functionality of Apple’s upcoming smart watch have surfaced through software leaks and the company’s hiring of a slew of sensor experts, the design of the product still remains a total mystery.

It is unknown what kind of screen the device will have, how the band will work, and how it will incorporate the myriad sensors it is rumored to include. For that reason, a wide variety of concept images have been surfacing, ranging from the Nike Fuel-style band shared by Todd Hamilton to a new, thicker design concept shared today by Swiss industrial design site DesignerEI.

These concept images feature a wide band with a deeply curved screen that would wrap around the front and sides of a wrist. A home button is built into the band, while a metal clasp potentially houses some sensors.

The underside of the band houses a sensor that would be in contact with the skin, an important design element as many of the sensors that are rumored for the iWatch, such as the heart rate or hydration monitor typically require direct sensor-to-skin contact.

While the creator of the concept suggests the iWatch might be powered via kinetic energy, such a concept is unlikely to provide enough power to the device, which is said to be powered by standard lithium-ion batteries rather than motion or solar energy.

It is unlikely that the iWatch will take on such a thick and bulky design, but this concept does give a look at how various sensors might possibly be incorporated into the product.

Apple Describes Disposable Email Solution to Combat Spam in New Patent Application

Apple has developed a system for both avoiding spam and locating its source, according to a patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday (via AppleInsider).

The patent, originally filed for in 2012, describes an email system that would allow users to create temporary, disposable email addresses linked to a permanent email account. These temporary addresses could be used to join websites or make purchases, with incoming emails to these addresses forwarded to the permanent email address.

If the temporary email address is sold by a site or otherwise compromised and begins to receive spam emails, it can simply be disabled and unlinked from the permanent account, effectively ending the spam emails.

As a bonus, assigning temporary email addresses when signing up for various accounts around the web also allows for specific identification of sites or parties that have misused email addresses. Apple specifies that contextual information can be included in the temporary addresses for easy identification.

An integrated system allows easily creating and using disposable email addresses. The disposable email address is created by an email server, which manages correspondence using the disposable email address to avoid exposing the associated non-disposable email address. Context information may be associated with a disposable email address, where the context information is not visible in email sent using the disposable email address. Should the disposable address be misused, the associated context may allow a user to recognize what correspondent exposed the disposable address to misuse.

Apple’s system would also carefully manage incoming emails, assigning the proper address for replies so that a user’s permanent account is never revealed, and the temporary emails, unlike existing disposable email solutions, would be indistinguishable from standard email addresses.

While there are a variety of sites that provide access to temporary emails such as Mailinator and Guerrilla Mail, none of these services are able to be linked to a permanent account for ongoing usage until spam occurs and must be checked individually. Apple notes that current disposable email systems are difficult to use.

Gmail has its own solution in the form of email aliases, allowing customers to receive messages to username+anyalias@gmail.com, which is treated as the standard email address. Aliases in Gmail can be filtered to specific locations like the trash when subjected to spam, but they cannot be deleted entirely as Apple proposes.

Apple’s solution combines a standard mail service with a temporary service like Mailinator, making it simple to create, manage, and delete disposable email addresses. The described system has the potential to allow users to greatly cut down on the amount of spam emails received if it is implemented, but as with many patents, it is unclear if Apple has plans to move forward with such a system.