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Starting this summer, commuters might begin riding the subway just for the view. In June, Atlanta's subway system becomes the first to open its tunnel walls to motion-picture advertising. Submedia, the New York company that makes the ads, says the tunnel ads work like a flipbook: as riders zip down the track, hundreds of stationary pictures on the tunnel walls blur into one continuously moving image. In-tunnel ads, which are now under consideration by other city subway systems nationwide, fill a growing need: "The problem with urban advertising," a Submedia exec says, "is that they're running out of places to put ads."

Alan Wirzbicki Passport Today's passport is museum-bound. The next travel document will look like a credit card but be smart enough to put identity thieves out of business. Picture this: after you get off a plane at JFK, you pull out a card from your pocket as you approach Immigration, you swipe it through a machine while a camera scans the iris of your eye, and in three seconds a sliding door lets you through (if the camera-recorded iris matches the one in your passport photo). The United States and other countries in the International Civil Aviation Organization are studying other biometrics technology, but the new passport is expected to debut in 2008.

Fe Conway Business Trip We can't guarantee that you'll close the deal, but we can pretty much promise that you'll enjoy the trip. The double-decker megajumbo A380 Airbus, which will be the world's largest passenger plane (with 555 seats) when it debuts in 2006, will be roomy enough for you to stretch out while flying to Tokyo for that a.m. meeting. You'll have time to get in some quality, high-altitude R&R--go to the gym, take a dip in the Jacuzzi and have a drink at the bar--before retiring to your airborne bedroom. You'll arrive in Tokyo well rested. Don't speak the language? No problem: you can put on your sunglasses equipped with embedded technology that instantly translates Japanese words into English. Now you'll be able to read street signs and newspapers. Ready to work again? In your hotel room you'll find a large, flat display panel--a prototype called a blueboard is currently in use at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif.--that lets you enter a code and securely connect to your computer back home.

Karen Yourish Credit Card Credit cards are great for everything from movie tickets at Moviefone.com ($10 in Manhattan) to a pair of Daphne shoes by Jimmy Choo on Luxuryfinder.com ($415). But since merchants pay a fee for each transaction, plastic isn't cost-effective for smaller purchases like an MP3 single on emusic (99 cents). Now a Manhattan-based start-up called DuoCash hopes the time for electronic money has come. It uses prepaid telephone long-distance cards for secure, anonymous transactions via the Net. When users go to an e-commerce site that uses DuoCash, they enter the access code on their phone card, and DuoCash bills the calling-card company. The first company to sign on was Entertainment Network Inc., best known for porn sites like Voyeur Dorm ($134 for a one-year subscription). It's too early to tell if DuoCash will have any better luck than its forebears. But even if they fail, those phone cards can still be used to call Mom (priceless).

N'Gai Croal E-ZPass In the six years since the E-ZPass system was introduced, the company that makes the tags has sold some 9 million (at $22 a pop) and enabled commuters to save 40 hours each year (by avoiding toll lines). But the E-ZPassification of America is just beginning. Several firms, including Mark IV, the company that makes E-ZPass tags, are promoting technology that would let customers use their E-ZPasses to pay for everything from Starbucks Frappuccinos to airline tickets. In a year or so, E-ZPass's manufacturer hopes to roll out a credit-card-size device that can be customized by downloading applications from the Internet (card cost: about $60). You could download the McDonald's application, for example, then drive through the restaurant without ever forking over cash. The "smart card" technology already exists. The challenge: to convince customers who are comfortable with their credit cards and ATMs that buying with the E-ZPass will be as relaxing as a Sunday drive.

Kevin Peraino Business Card The charmed badge will use infrared technology to enable "affinity matching." Don a badge in the form of a business card and as you walk conference halls it will signal the presence of others who have programmed theirs to look for people with similar concerns. This smart business card can also be a filter. A venture capitalist tired of being hit up for cash? Just program your badge to block out pesky pitchmen.

Suzanne Smalley Secretary Have your virtual people call my virtual people. AT&T Labs could soon offer every middle manager (or mailroom clerk) a highly trained, ultra-efficient executive assistant. The in-development Intelligent Secretary files, schedules, reminds and cajoles--just don't get it wet. Running late? Your voice-controlled virtual assistant calls your appointment to reschedule, even if it has to talk to a low-tech human. On a trip but forgot to pack your presentation? Your machine musters its artificial intelligence to e-mail, fax or read it to you. On the golf course while your boss is on a rampage? The loyal "secretary" calls your mobile phone to warn you.

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Suzanne Smalley returned to Newsweek as a national correspondent in July 2007 after spending three years covering police and crime for the Boston Globe. At the Globe she broke several major stories, including news of the federal indictment of three Boston police officers and a feature story documenting how police and clergy arranged a secret truce between two of Boston's most violent street gangs. She also won awards for her expose on excessive state trooper salaries and for a series of articles about the fatal police shooting of a college student celebrating outside Fenway Park in the wake of the Red Sox American League Championship victory over the Yankees.

Prior to her three-year stint at the Globe from 2004 to 2007, Smalley worked at Newsweek as a reporter covering the 2004 presidential campaign as part of Newsweek's Campaign Special Project Team. In that position, she followed the campaigns of several Democratic candidates across the country, filing behind the scenes reporting for a Newsweek special issue published immediately after the election. The National Magazine Awards recognized the project, awarding Newsweek the prestigious best single-topic issue honor. The reporting was later used in a book titled "Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future."

Before her election coverage, Smalley covered several major breaking news stories for Newsweek, including the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, the disappearance of Chandra Levy, and the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping.

A native of Coral Gables, Florida, Smalley graduated from Georgetown University magna cum laude and received a masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School.

Kevin Peraino has been the Jerusalem bureau chief at Newsweek since January 2005. He reports from throughout the Middle East, filing regularly from Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. His tenure has coincided with one of the region's most tumultuous periods in recent history; stories have included Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution," Israel's historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the incapacitation of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the rise of the Islamist group Hamas, civil war and revolution in Gaza, and Israel's summer conflict with Lebanon's Hizbullah organization.

In 2003, Peraino covered the American invasion of Iraq, where he was embedded with the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division. He rode in a Bradley fighting vehicle from the first thrust across the Kuwaiti border to the division's arrival, under fire, at Saddam International Airport. His dispatches contributed to Newsweek's being honored with the most prestigious award in magazine journalism -- the 2004 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. He also filed regular reports from the front for National Public Radio.

The following year, Peraino was a member of Newsweek's Campaign 2004 Special Project Team, based in Washington, D.C. In that position he followed the campaign of President George W. Bush, reporting for more than a year from behind the scenes for the special issue that Newsweek published two days after Election Day. The project won a 2005 National Magazine Award for Single-Topic Issue. It was later published as a book titled Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future, by Public Affairs press. It became a national bestseller.

Peraino appears regularly as a guest commentator on television and radio programs to discuss his stories, including: CNN's "Larry King Live," NBC's "Today," MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," MSNBC's "The News with Brian Williams," Fox News's "O'Reilly Factor," C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" and many others.

A 1998 graduate Northwestern University, Peraino has also written for the Wall Street Journal Europe, New York magazine and Hamptons magazine. He is a native of Ridgefield, Conn.

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