Groupon takes on OpenTable with 'Groupon Reserve,' bundles reservations with coupons

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Not satisfied with simply locking down your discount mountain-climbing lessons and hot stone massages, Groupon announced Groupon Reserve this morning, which aims to bundle time-based discounts with restaurant reservations. Groupon's tapping Savored.com's reservation tech to handle the heavy-lifting behind the scenes -- the service is already live in 10 markets, including New York City and Los Angeles, and seemingly goes after OpenTable head-on.
Of course, Groupon Reserve isn't quite the same service as OpenTable. With Reserve, you plug in a time, party size, date and city, and you're offered a variety of restaurant options with discounts, whereas with OpenTable you're simply plugging in the aforementioned info and looking for a spot. Though Groupon Reserve only handles restaurant reservations thus far, the plan is for "spas, salons and hotels" in the coming months; ambiguous options from "top beauty, product, travel and entertainment brands" are also in the cards. Groupon Reserve will reach international shores and even more US cities "by the end of 2013." Now if you'll excuse us, we're arranging a more affordable date at Butter. We're pretty fancy.

Groupon Expands Premium Offerings with Groupon Reserve
Reservations service for restaurants launches high-end Groupon channel
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Groupon (http://www.groupon.com) (NASDAQ: GRPN) announced Groupon Reserve, the premiere destination for the finest things to eat, see, do and buy. Debuting on Reserve is Savored.com's reservations engine that lets customers book tables at some of the best restaurants in their city at discounts of up to 40 percent.
"Reserve provides these businesses with a yield management solution to bring customers through their doors at the times they need them the most."
In the future, Reserve will also feature premium deals and experiences from top beauty, product, travel and entertainment brands, as well as similar reservations capabilities for spas, salons and hotels.
"Groupon Reserve is an important step in our journey to become the leading marketplace for online deals, where consumers can come to Groupon and discover great businesses at unbeatable prices, " said Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky. "As Groupon has evolved, we've seen growing demand from our customers for upscale offers and exclusive experiences. Reserve gives the most prestigious brands a new way to reach our large and desirable audience."
The Reserve reservation platform gives customers a discount off their entire check without requiring pre-payment or vouchers and provides local businesses an important tool to drive traffic during slow periods by utilizing flexible pricing.
"Whether it's because of a slow night or a last minute no-show, even the best restaurants have empty tables," Lefkofsky said. "Reserve provides these businesses with a yield management solution to bring customers through their doors at the times they need them the most."
Reserve reservations are live in 10 markets: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., with plans to expand to more cities in the United States and in key international markets by the end of 2013.
Reserve currently offers discounted reservations to more than 600 of the country's top restaurants, including Le Cirque in New York City, Chaya Brasserie in Los Angeles and db Bistro Moderne in Miami.
Savored, acquired by Groupon in September 2012, pioneered the concept of yield management in fine dining establishments. The Reserve reservations team is led by Savored founder Ben McKean and based in Groupon's New York offices.
To view available Groupon Reserve deals and reservations, consumers can visit the Reserve tab at the top the Groupon homepage. Businesses interested in featuring their businesses on Reserve can visit https://www.grouponworks.com/merchant-solutions/groupon-reserve.
About Groupon
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is a global leader in local commerce, making it easy for people around the world to search and discover great businesses at unbeatable prices. Groupon is reinventing the traditional small business world by providing merchants with a suite of products and services, including customizable deals, payments processing capabilities and point-of-sale solutions to help them attract more customers and run their operations more effectively. By leveraging the company's global relationships and scale, Groupon offers consumers incredible deals on the best stuff to eat, see, do, and buy in 48 countries. With Groupon, shoppers discover the best a city has to offer with Groupon Local, enjoy vacations with Groupon Getaways, and find a curated selection of electronics, fashion, home furnishings and more with Groupon Goods. To subscribe to Groupon emails, visit www.Groupon.com. To learn more about the company's merchant solutions and how to work with Groupon, visit www.GrouponWorks.com.

Apple France raided over claims that it gives resellers the cold shoulder

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Few would doubt that Apple prioritizes its own stores -- they're ambassadors for the brand. However, France's Competition Authority has just raided Apple and its distributors over complaints that this preference comes at the expense of resellers. Recently bankrupt retailer eBizscuss claims that Apple both stalls on delivering products to third-party stores and denies those outlets any flexibility in pricing. In other words, it's allegedly impossible to compete fairly when Apple holds all the cards. We've reached out to Apple for comment, although the Competition Authority is so far willing only to confirm to Les Echos that the raids took place. Whether or not the searches lead to any substantive legal action, Apple may face extra heat in France -- the Authority is reportedly investigating accusations that the American firm unfairly hiked the minimum pricing for iBookstore periodicals.

RIP: Google Reader

We hope you've had time to say your goodbyes, because Google Reader bows out today, ending its eight-year existence. The search giant gave a two-month warning, with many users incensed that they'd be losing their defacto RSS reader -- their favorite way to absorb news and internet goings-on. We'd like to hear why Reader managed to pull in such a devoted following, so leave us your memories in the comments below and let us know which service you've moved your feeds to, because some of us haven't decided yet.

Vodafone launches a 4G mobile hotspot, suffers from premature dispensation

Camping outside a store for weeks on end has been done to death now, so what can you do to score some early adopter cred? How about buying a device to use on a service that doesn't exist... yet? That's Vodafone's thinking behind launching its first 4G wireless hotspot, two months before its LTE service begins rolling out. The Vodafone R212 will connect up to 10 devices simultaneously, comes with a 32GB SD card reader, a 2,800mAh battery and will, thankfully, connect to the company's 3G network as well. It'll set you back £39 up-front if you sign up for a plan offering you 1GB of monthly data for £10 a month.