So you need to check your e-mail but you’re too lazy to move from your comfy recliner. Don’t get up – just punch the armrest.
La-Z-Boy Inc.’s latest product, the Microsoft Corp. WebTV Plus Recliner, lets you surf the Internet via your television from the comfort of your new favourite chair, said Kevin Wixted, director of marketing. The chair comes stocked with a host of high-tech toys, including a wireless keyboard that operates the included WebTV Plus receiver.
“It’s the perfect combination of high comfort and high technology,” he said.
Dubbed the Explorer, the chair is available now and ships in two flavours: fabric for US$1,049 and leather for US$1,299, Wixted said. Despite first impressions, the company isn’t targeting techies with its chair, he said.
Surfing for Loafers
“It’s geared more toward someone who doesn’t want a PC,” Wixted said. Typical Explorer customers want access to the Internet, but would rather spend the money on comfortable chairs that also lets them go on-line through their television.
WebTV Plus also lets you send and receive e-mail and access special interactive television broadcasts, all in pop-up windows so that you can keep watching your favourite broadcast TV shows at the same time.
The Explorer should also appeal to parents who are tired of fighting their kids for use of the family’s shared PC, he said. “This lets Mom and Dad get on the Internet.” With a separate phone line, of course.
The Explorer has a fold-out tray in the left armrest that holds the removable battery-operated keyboard. Install the WebTV Plus receiver on your television, plug it into a phone line, and you’re ready to surf, Wixted said. The price of the chair includes the first two months of WebTV Plus service; after that chair-surfers pay the standard rate (US$24.95 for the full service or US$14.95 with your own Internet service provider).
WebTV Plus capabilities may be the Explorer’s main draw, but the chair has other high-tech goodies that should appeal to more technical-minded users as well, Wixted said.
Remove the wireless WebTV Plus keyboard, and the tray is perfect for holding a notebook computer, he said. And the chair’s left arm also houses a 120-volt fused electrical outlet with surge protection to power that notebook. It has a high-speed digital subscriber line port and a regular analogue phone-line port. Over on the right side, you find more traditional creature comforts: a drink holder and storage space for your remote control.
An Internet-savvy chair may sound strange to the uninitiated, but Wixted said La-Z-Boy has found much success with its other specialized chairs. For example, it offers chairs with up to 10 custom massage motors, chairs with phones and even chairs with speakers. And don’t forget the top-of-the-line sports-potato chair that includes massage motors and a built-in refrigerator (available in your team’s colours).
So you need to check your e-mail but you’re too lazy to move from your comfy recliner. Don’t get up – just punch the armrest.
La-Z-Boy Inc.’s latest product, the Microsoft Corp. WebTV Plus Recliner, lets you surf the Internet via your television from the comfort of your new favourite chair, said Kevin Wixted, director of marketing. The chair comes stocked with a host of high-tech toys, including a wireless keyboard that operates the included WebTV Plus receiver.
“It’s the perfect combination of high comfort and high technology,” he said.
Dubbed the Explorer, the chair is available now and ships in two flavours: fabric for US$1,049 and leather for US$1,299, Wixted said. Despite first impressions, the company isn’t targeting techies with its chair, he said.
Surfing for Loafers
“It’s geared more toward someone who doesn’t want a PC,” Wixted said. Typical Explorer customers want access to the Internet, but would rather spend the money on comfortable chairs that also lets them go on-line through their television.
WebTV Plus also lets you send and receive e-mail and access special interactive television broadcasts, all in pop-up windows so that you can keep watching your favourite broadcast TV shows at the same time.
The Explorer should also appeal to parents who are tired of fighting their kids for use of the family’s shared PC, he said. “This lets Mom and Dad get on the Internet.” With a separate phone line, of course.
The Explorer has a fold-out tray in the left armrest that holds the removable battery-operated keyboard. Install the WebTV Plus receiver on your television, plug it into a phone line, and you’re ready to surf, Wixted said. The price of the chair includes the first two months of WebTV Plus service; after that chair-surfers pay the standard rate (US$24.95 for the full service or US$14.95 with your own Internet service provider).
WebTV Plus capabilities may be the Explorer’s main draw, but the chair has other high-tech goodies that should appeal to more technical-minded users as well, Wixted said.
Remove the wireless WebTV Plus keyboard, and the tray is perfect for holding a notebook computer, he said. And the chair’s left arm also houses a 120-volt fused electrical outlet with surge protection to power that notebook. It has a high-speed digital subscriber line port and a regular analogue phone-line port. Over on the right side, you find more traditional creature comforts: a drink holder and storage space for your remote control.
An Internet-savvy chair may sound strange to the uninitiated, but Wixted said La-Z-Boy has found much success with its other specialized chairs. For example, it offers chairs with up to 10 custom massage motors, chairs with phones and even chairs with speakers. And don’t forget the top-of-the-line sports-potato chair that includes massage motors and a built-in refrigerator (available in your team’s colours).
