In Brief

By Lev Grossman

NO PETS, NO WIRES The Holiday Inn Wall Street, which already claims to be "New York's most technologically advanced hotel," will shortly become the first hotel in the world equipped with cutting-edge Bluetooth wireless technology. Guests will be able to check in and out, get into their rooms and eat at the in-house restaurant, all using only a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. Not that anybody has one of those yet. But if anyone did, that would be cool.

CONCERTMASTER In the spirit of man's everlasting quest to stuff bigger things into smaller packages, Intel has succeeded in packing 128 MB of memory into its tiny new portable digital audio player, the Intel Pocket Concert ($300). That's twice as much memory as its nearest competitors, most of which sell for about the same price. The Pocket Concert plays files in Windows Media and MP3 formats; of course, TIME neither condones nor encourages the use of unauthorized or pirated digital music. No way, no how.

CYBERSEAT One more reason never to get up. Oblivious to the dotcom downturn, La-Z-Boy is moving impetuously into the Internet space with the Explorer ($1,049), a new reclining chair that comes with a built-in wireless keyboard from Sony and a Microsoft WebTV receiver that accesses the Internet through your TV. If only the Explorer came with a business plan and venture capital, it would be perfect.

--By Lev Grossman