It’s almost that time of year again, the magical season of the Pumpkin Spice Latte that brings fanatics to Starbucks in droves. To amp up the excitement, the coffee giant is using Facebook to host a social marketing contest. The challenge and its companion app will be revealed on the Starbucks Facebook Page on Monday, reports Mashable. The contest will pit cities against each other, and the winning city gets the Pumpkin Spice Latte a week before its official release date.

Apple and Starbucks have amped up their in-store “Pick of the Week” partnership to offer a free iPhone app each week. The Pick of the Week offers began in 2008 but previously only gave consumers free tracks through the iTunes Music Store. CNET reports that the first free app is Shazam Encore, which identifies music you hear, and normally costs $5.99 in the App Store.

Programmer Jonathan Stark is running a Starbucks-based “experiment in social sharing of physical goods using digital currency on mobile phones” by releasing his Starbucks Card as a communal coffee payment method. As TechCrunch reports, people who need a coffee can charge their drink to Jonathan’s card, and people who are feeling generous can add money to the card’s balance. Caffeine fiends simply have to save the image he provides and then use it at any Starbucks with a POS barcode scanner. Stark is also running a bot on his @jonathanscard Twitter account to keep followers updated on how much money is on the card.

Starbucks Card Mobile is, according to Mashable, a vision of the future of mobile payment technology. They offer apps for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android that allow users to pay for their coffee with their phones. The mobile payment is an option at about 9,000 US Starbucks locations.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz has invested in Groupon.com through his investments company called Maveron. As a result, Schultz will also be joining the company board of directors. Maveron’s investment amount was undisclosed.

Coffee company Starbucks is going to announce a new size for their drinks. The 916mL Trenta sized cup capacity is larger than the average capcity of the human stomach. This is about the same size of a 7-11 Big Gulp or a large beverage container at a movie theater. The Trenta size is expected to release nationwide on May 3rd.

Tech blogger Robert Scoble did an interview with Starbucks CIO Stephen Gillett. Gillett showed Scoble a demo of the Starbucks Digital Network that I wrote about earlier this month. The Starbucks Digital Network will be displayed to the 30 million people a month that connect to free WiFi at Starbucks. What Gillett revealed was very interesting.

As many of you know, Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) introduced free WiFi this year finally. Starbucks is now integrating the Starbucks Digital Network across their 6,800 U.S. operated stores. SDN will showcase content from The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The New York Times. There will be a News, Entertainment, Wellness, Business, and My Neighborhood section.