This is smart: a new alarm clock application for the iPhone and Android wakes you earlier if it snowed last night. Called simply, “Winter Wake-Up,” the app lets you configure its settings to wake you up earlier than your scheduled alarm depending on weather conditions, with separate settings for both “Frost” and “Snow.” → Read More
A Japanese company called Idea Label has designed the “Music Planet” [JP] today, a portable, ball-shaped MP3 player that you can take with you to the bath tub. The device is IPX7-certified, meaning it can withstand immersion in water up to a depth of 1m for up to 30 minutes. → Read More
Some of the older CrunchGear readers will surely remember the Pyramidtalk, a clock that verbally announced the time and other information. Seiko started selling the clock in 1984, and it turned out to be a big worldwide hit, with sales ballooning to 200,000 units per year at its peak. And now, just in time for Christmas, consumers (in Japan, at least) can lay their hands on an updated version… → Read More
Japan and its alarm clocks. We just blogged the bizarre Clockman on Monday, but major Japanese toy maker Banpresto‘s two new models aren’t too normal either. The company has designed alarm clocks using wrestling and boxing gongs as the design motif. The idea actually kind of makes sense but is cruel at the same time. → Read More
Japan sure has a penchant for weird alarm clocks, as we blogged many times in the past. And Clockman, a new model from major Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy, isn’t really normal either. Reasons: It looks creepy, it can speak, its eyes and mouth can move and Takara Tomy says it even has a personality and “blood type” (seriously). → Read More
For some reason, Japan has a thing for strange alarm clocks. Think of the helicopter clock, the Gun o’ clock or the railroad sign clock, for example. And now major Japanese toymaker Banpresto follows up with an alarm clock that has the characteristics of a traffic light [link leads to Amazon Japan, the company hasn't set up a dedicated site for the gadget yet]. → Read More
Here’s a weird-looking convergence device — alarm clock, pen holder, and speaker — that might work for anyone who needs to write things down in the middle of the night. Maybe you’re a stand-up comedian who thinks up jokes while in a sleep-like state, a famous writer, or you just need to document your aggressive night terrors before you drift back off to whatever fresh hell awaits you in your… → Read More
I covered quite a few alarm clocks with annoying features from Japan in the past months, i.e. one that’s shaped like a railroad crossing sign, one that wakes sleepers with helicopter engine sounds and Bandai’s brilliant Gun o’ Clock.
But none of these devices is as cute as the Hello Kitty Action Alarm Clock, today announced by Sanrio (the company behind the ultrapopular character) in Japan. → Read More
There are many, many crazy alarm clocks available, all designed to rouse you from the sweet embrace of the sandman. Some make you run around the room chasing some rolling or flying component, some make you assemble puzzle pieces, and some just plain annoy the hell out of you. I can’t wait until the Smash Clock comes to market, so that we can finally beat the crap out of an alarm clock. → Read More
Finding it too easy to read your current alarm clock? Check out the new “Time Tuner” from ATREP04 design, based out of Constantinople Istanbul. Instead of using something like a numerical display, the Time Tuner uses a analog radio tuner, with a glowing light bar to indicate the hour and the minute. Despite the analog theme, the alarm clock will either wake you with an old school buzz… → Read More
Seiko has announced a new Hello Kitty alarm clock, which triples as a thermometer and a hand mirror. The compact device (92×32×80mm) will go on sale in Japan this week. It will wake you up with three different chimes. Kitty says (in Japanese): – “It’s Kitty! You are still sleeping? If you oversleep, I will get angry!” – “Good morning! This is Kitty’s morning call! → Read More
The sleep-deprived Japanese seem to have a soft spot for wacky alarm clocks. Now Tokyo-based toy and video game maker Banpresto presents an alarm clock in the shape of a Japanese railroad crossing sign. Banpresto hasn’t included its newest product on their own website yet but the (official) promo picture above says the clock has extra-large speakers (40mm) to make sure you wake up when the… → Read More
Tokyo-based Toyo Trading [JP] is selling an alarm clock in the shape of a helicopter, which wakes up users with a tricky mechanism. Unfortunately, the device is Japan-only at this point. At the preset time, the clock launches a rotor up in the air that keeps on flying around while making an extra-annoying engine sound (see Toyo Trading’s promo video below). The battery-powered clock can only… → Read More
What we have here is a heavy, metal, red robot alarm clock. He/she/it sits amongst my other cubicle decorations: two Kid Robot Munny dolls, Wowwee Chatterbot (I like bulldogs), and skull Pez dispenser. You can choose from three models with varying colors. The one I have is $48. I like the squatty looking one. It’s an alarm clock robot with moving legs, arms and head. That is all. → Read More
If you don’t like the idea of shooting your alarm clock, the new version of the Philips Wake-up Light might be for you. Like any other alarm clock, you set the time at which you want to be woken up. 30 minutes before that time arrives, however, the Wake-up Light starts to gently glow. As the minutes pass, the light gets brighter, simulating the rising sun, so that when the designated time… → Read More
Japan seems to have a soft spot for weird alarm clocks. First the fly-away alarm clock, now this: At the end of October, Bandai will start offering an awesome alarm clock that can only be silenced with a special gun that will be sold along with it. The so-called Gun o’ Clock has two modes: In the time mode, the clock will wake users up with a normal alarm sound but also a voice message… → Read More
I hate my alarm clock as I’m sure most of you do too. I’m still not sold on digital photo frames and I think it’s safe to say most you aren’t either. I only know one person who owns one. But what would you say to a digital photo frame that’s also an alarm clock? What if it had a calendar, indoor temperature gauge and MP3 player? I sure as heck would want one of those. → Read More
Product Name: JBL On Time 200ID, On Time 400IHD Description: The On Time 200ID lets you wake up to your iPod, iPhone, radio, or a buzzer. It also has a 1/8th-inch line input for connecting other audio devices. The small one-piece speaker has a backlit LCD and touch-sensitive controls, and a backup battery preserves your settings even if power is interrupted. The silver grille covers two 6-watt… → Read More
CrunchArcade: Get a Life… Online Hot Fuzz: The Sleep Squad Alarm Clock Wall-Climbing Robot Is Speedy Tampon Taser Flat Panel Frame, Debatable Elegance for those with Cash to Burn → Read More
Nothing scares the living crap out of you more than the po’ kicking down your door and telling you to freeze. So if you woke up to the sound of a police officer screaming “This is the police, you have until the count of three to get out of bed or we are coming in, 1…..,2…..,3” with a hail of siren sounds and flashing lights going off soon after, I’d bet 10 bucks that… → Read More
If your house is anything like the CrunchGear Mansion, it’s filled to the brim with gadgetry and electronica. And with all this newfangled convenience comes an equal dose of frustration. Like when your cell phone clock goes dead the second the A train pops underground. It’s almost enough to make you strap on your old Mickey Mouse wristwatch. So this got us to thinking — what are… → Read More
Though I did an extremely brief “video overview” of Clocky on Friday, I thought I’d share with you a few unboxing pictures since Clocky has fantastic-looking packaging. It should also be noted that Clocky only costs $50, not $60. Oh! And I used Clocky as an alarm clock this morning. The result? Me getting out of bed and having to crawl under my desk to shut off the lil’… → Read More
It’s Friday, it feels like Spring, and Clocky has invaded CrunchGear HQ (well, my place at least). Check out the above video for a humorous, informative review on one of the coolest alarm clocks of the century. If you want to read more about Clocky or purchase one, visit Nandahome.com. → Read More
I can’t get up in the morning to save my life and I’m terrible at keeping my spare change in one place. This, then, is the greatest alarm clock hybrid gadget my weary eyes have ever seen. The Banclock lacks the snooze button I’ve grown fond of, which actually leads to my demise in the morning. The only way to turn the alarm off is to feed it some change. So all you need to do is put… → Read More
Sometimes getting back to basics can be good in the world of design. This simple, yet effective Slabang alarm clock from Swedish home store Ikea has a special yellow rubber shell to protect it from falls, throws, and for when you use it as a bottle opener after 12 beers. Slabang comes with all the basic alarm clock features plus the ability to record seven seconds of audio via a built-in… → Read More
Where I come from, vibrating beds are mostly found in hourly rate motels. Now you can bring all of that fun to your home! The Sonic Book Alarm Clock shakes your bed like a British nanny. And if that’s not enough to wake you, the ear-splitting 113-decibel alarm will. And get a load of the bizarre rant of a product description the site has: Even Ninjas need their sleep. For a Ninja, sleep is a… → Read More
Perhaps physically getting out of your bed to find your alarm clock just isn’t your thing. That’s ok. If you’re more of a thinker, then there’s still a unique, annoying alarm clock for you. This puzzle alarm clock has three puzzle-pieces on top that pop out when the alarm goes off. To shut off the alarm, you’ll need to use that noggin of yours to solve the puzzle. → Read More
In all likelihood, when you first came across Clocky, it was still just a project from the mind of MIT student Guari Nanda. Now Clocky has grown into a full-fledged product and I totally want one! It works just like a normal alarm clock except that if you hit that snooze button, Clocky is going to roll away from you so that you’re forced to wake up and find it. You can snag one now for a… → Read More
As if all the screaming kids at every store with some sort of retail product this holiday season weren’t enough, Clocky the rolling alarm clock (wasn’t that the name of a Capt. Beefheart album?) gives you one chance… ONE CHANCE… to get out of bed. Fail, and it literally zips across the room to some Cheney-esque undisclosed location and squeals until you get up and find it. → Read More
If you’re looking for an alternative for to the iHome, the Timex TM800 might be something to keep an eye on. The TM800 alarm clock allows users to wake up to digital music via a thumb drive or SD media card. I’m not a big fan of the TM800′s design, the alarm clock looks a little on the cheap side. The speaker also looks like it isn’t going to do justice to any of your… → Read More
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Berlin, Germany
San Francisco
