The free access comes under a partnership with AT&T Inc., which provides McDonald's stores with wireless Internet. Mr. Grooms wouldn't discuss financial details of the arrangement, nor would he say how much McDonald's earned from such charges.

McDonald's hopes the free Internet could encourage customers to hang around during down times between meals, providing a captive audience that may buy some of the chain's McCafe line of coffee drinks. The chain also plans to begin selling items like frappes and smoothies by mid-2010 that aim to appeal to customers during the snacking hours that could get a lift from greater traffic.

Toys in children's food may be as old as Cracker Jack (the caramel-covered popcorn has had "a prize in every box" since 1912), but in Spain, the tradition may soon go the way of liquor commercials on TV and smoking in restaurants. Concerned about rising rates of childhood obesity, the Health Ministry is backing legislation that, if approved, would ban restaurants and food manufacturers from including toys and prizes with their products. It's an initiative sure to make multinational corporations -- to say nothing of untold millions of children -- unhappy, but one that health experts say is necessary.

*****

In addition to limiting the hours during which junk food can be advertised on TV, the bill would prohibit celebrities from appearing in any ads for foods aimed at children. And, in a move that may mean the death of the Happy Meal, it would ban companies from including toys or prizes in foods targeted to children. "The aim is to protect children from their own bad food choices, since we know that they don't always have the ability to make wise, informed decisions," says Roberto Sabrido, president of the Spanish Food Security and Nutrition Agency, the entity that drafted the proposal under the Health Ministry's direction. "We don't want them eating fast food just to get the toy."

New software would update the complicated abbreviations of the touch-screen register with simply labeled, icon-like pictures of food. The system, which is in about 5,000 restaurants out of the company’s 32,000 locations, is easy to learn and may cut as many as 10 seconds off workflow, said Laurie Gilbert, the center's director.

That saved time may squeeze another five cars in the drive-through lane per hour, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic. McDonald's currently aims to serve most customers within 90 seconds of taking their order. "It's going to enhance repeat business, improve loyalty and push more people through the lines faster," Tristano said. "People expect convenience and demand it, and if restaurants don't deliver against it, then they’re failing."

Behind the counter, a redesigned assembly area has three sides for workers to pack food into bags, while a new, shorter preparation table promises to be more energy efficient: It holds 50 percent more cooked burgers and chicken breasts, and it lifts a bread steamer, used for Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, to hip level so workers need not bend over for each order.

The chain famous for hamburgers tailors its menus to local tastes, which means no beef in India because the majority of its 1.22 billion people are Hindus and revere cows. It also doesn't serve pork items in deference to Muslims. Instead, it offers vegetarian and chicken dishes with items starting at about 40 U.S. cents. All restaurants have separate kitchens for vegetarians, including those who don't eat root vegetables like garlic and onions.

"It really doesn't make sense to sell beef in a country where 85 percent of the population doesn't eat it or will even shun a restaurant where beef is served," Bakshi said. "About 70 percent of the menu in Indian outlets doesn't exist anywhere else in the world." Some items, including the McAloo Tikki and Pizza McPuff, were exported to restaurants in the Middle East. While locals expect the different menu, foreigners used to a Big Mac can be taken aback by a Chicken Maharaja Mac.

The Cary McDonald's is under review to be LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It would become the third McDonald's to receive certification, after restaurants in Savannah, Ga., and Chicago.

To start, the restaurant will feature two charging stations, which will sit at the front of a parking space. If the feature proves popular, McDonald's can expand the system to add more stations, said Helda Rodriguez, president of NovaCharge, the Florida distributor of the ChargePoint stations.

The charge is free.

While the Golden Arches won't detail how much it's spending on McCafe, the new product platform is expected to receive an outpouring of more than $100 million fanned out across TV, print, radio, outdoor, internet, events, PR and sampling beginning early this week. There's a lot riding on that budget: McCafe is expected to add about $1 billion to McDonald's bottom line in the U.S. -- about $75,000 per restaurant -- and the chain is banking on national advertising to realize that lofty financial goal.

"Fashion Week is a great opportunity to give us a national stage to talk to key influencers and trendsetters," said Sofia Therios, director-marketing, McDonald's USA and lead on the McCafé business. "Tasting is believing. We'll be able to get our product into the mouths of all these people."

Of course, the likes of Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace aren't the fast feeder's core customers. But McDonald's strategy will likely grab the attention of the tabloid-reading young women that follow the tastemakers and celebrities in the front row. When asked whether fashion magazines and celebrity weeklies might be a way to build on its Fashion Week partnership, Ms. Therois said "absolutely," though she declined to discuss specific plans.

While the $1 billion McCafe product launch isn't set for a national ad push until May, the alliance with Fashion Week, which kicks off Feb. 13, indicates women -- with whom McDonald's has long had a tenuous relationship -- will be a major target. For the promotion, McCafe products will be served in Bryant Park's main tent as the "official coffee" of Fashion Week, with free espresso drinks and drip coffee available all week.

• Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal; or
• Reduced-Fat Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake.

• New Artisan Bacon Sandwich, a bakery-style sandwich made with a parmesan egg frittata, smoked bacon slices, and Gouda cheese on an partisan roll; or
• New Artisan Ham Sandwich, a parmesan egg frittata, three slices of Black Forest ham, and mild cheddar on an artisan roll; or
• Sausage Breakfast Sandwich, sausage, egg and mild cheddar on an English muffin; or
• Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich, lighter option featuring reduced-fat turkey bacon, cholesterol-free egg, and reduced-fat aged white cheddar on a multi-grain English muffin.

Tina Sherman says she began receiving offensive calls and text messages about the pictures from her husband's mobile phone after he left it at the McDonald's on 5 July.

The couple then discovered that the nude pictures she had sent to her husband's phone had been posted online.

The Shermans are suing McDonald's Corporation, the owner of the franchise involved and the restaurant's manager, saying they have suffered emotional distress, embarrassment and damage to their reputations.

They also allege loss of earnings and want to recover the cost of moving to a new home.

The McDonald's deal is important because although every Zune has built-in Wi-Fi, the devices can only access free Wi-Fi hot spots that don't have a browser interrupt. That severely limits the types of public locations from which people can download songs wirelessly.

Many of the Zune's key new features, such as channels and "buy from FM" are most useful when Zune owners have access to a compatible Wi-Fi location. The McDonald's deal, struck with its Wi-Fi provider Wayport, adds nearly 10,000 places where people can access the Zune Marketplace store.

The sputtering economy has caused an increase in prices of many staples including gasoline, rice, ice cream, even beer. Now some lawmakers in New Jersey are considering taking food taxes a step further and install a proverbial "sin" tax on fast food. Yes, the idea of marking up your favorite fast food burger or pack of fries is actually being tossed around, and it's not settling well with many residents. "They're taxing everything. Now you're gonna tax fast food? That's crazy," said Newark resident Miriam Robertson.

Added Livingston resident Tina Abrahamian: "No one wants to be taxed. I mean, it's a necessity to eat and people need to eat and with everything skyrocketing, that's the last thing we want to tax." The thought of taxing a Big Mac or a Wendy's burger came up at a New Jersey Hospital Association meeting where Gov. Jon S. Corzine was asked if it could be an option to help fund struggling hospitals. At the meeting, he reportedly called it a "constructive suggestion."

A spokesperson for the governor, however, told CBS 2 on Wednesday: "The governor is open to reasonable solutions to help solve our financing problems, but there are no plans for any fast food tax." State Sen. Richard Codey has been quoted as saying a tax on fast food "is a tax on the poor." And plenty of residents agree. "[It cost] $12.86 for [fries] and this little chicken wrap, and they want to tax that? You're serious?" asked Newark resident Saladine Fuller. "If they raise it, I'll stop buying it."