The Apple iPhone has been gaining the “Now playing” service at Starbucks for a while now, and it appears that Apple like it so much they think it may be worth its very own patent, presumably so the likes of Nokia and Palm won’t copy it.

The idea is basically, to place a local cache of Apple iTunes media store server at places such as Starbucks and follow the music that is being played from said cache then beam that information to Apple iPhones and Apple MacBooks through local WiFi.

Apparently there will be a store logo icon on the Apple iPhone so that if the customer see a song they like that simply tap the icon for more info and an option to purchase. Not too sure if the US patent office will agree with Apple’s thinking but no doubt will find out sooner or later.

Source — unwiredview