Clocks

Climate Clock shows your local forecast on the hour

It's hard to get excited about weather apps. Sure, every so often you see something original like Fahrenheit, the first app to show the outdoor temperature as an icon badge, or Dark Sky, which predicts the weather for the hour ahead.

Mostly, however, they're variations on a theme: weather forecasts, weather radar, weather video, and on and on.

If you're looking for something simpler, something more elegant, check out Climate Clock. True to its name, it's, well, a clock, but one that shows you the forecasted temperature and conditions for each hour on the clock face.… Read more

Wayki alarm clock/toothbrush makes you clean your chompers

Some folks are naturally neat-freak morning people. They wake up on time, feeling perky, bounce into the bathroom, and scrub their teeth first thing in the morning. Others need a little extra encouragement. That's where the Wayki alarm clock/toothbrush hopes to come in.

David Hawkins was having trouble dragging himself out of bed in the mornings. He decided he needed a two-part push. Half of the Wayki sits next to the bed, behaving like a regular alarm clock. When it goes off, the only way to silence it is to get up, take it into the bathroom, plug in the toothbrush portion, and trigger a 2-minute brushing timer. Before you know what hit you, you're up and scrubbing your teeth.… Read more

Check the time in different time zones with Anuko World Clock

Our connected world means you might need to know what time it is in dozens of different places. If you don't feel like doing the math in your head, try Anuko World Clock. It lets you tack as many clocks as you want onto your desktop's taskbar.

The program makes you pay $29.95 to use it after a 30-day trial period. Even though this program offers many features, that's a little on the expensive side for a license that supports only two computers. The installation of Anuko World Clock goes quite smoothly, the interface is user-friendly, … Read more

Getting started with lock screen widgets on Android Jelly Bean

Earlier this week Google released a new line of Nexus devices along with a small update to the Android operating system itself. Android 4.2 Jelly Bean includes a few new features for both smartphones and tablets alike.

One of the new features included in Android 4.2 is the addition of widgets to the lock screen. These widgets (a total of five currently available) provide a preview of your inbox, the clock, messages, calendar, or a shortcut to your camera and a widget to quickly identify a song.

You'll, of course, need to be running Android … Read more

Schedule alarms, open Web sites automatically, and more with SNV Timer

The publishers describe SNV Timer as a reminder program, but it actually includes three separate applications designed to manage shutdown operations, user-set alerts, and more. While many will see this diversity as a benefit, others will find that the lack of integration between programs and the redundancy of some functions negatively affect SNV Timer's usefulness.

When you install SNV Timer, you'll actually get SNV Timer, SNV Notepad, and SNV Calendar, each with its own desktop icon. SNV Timer does just what its name implies: it allows you to choose a specific time or number of hours for whatever … Read more

Sharp World Clock tracks time around the world

It's a small world, unless you're the one who sets the clocks. Years ago, keeping track of the time around the world meant a row of wall clocks with labels like "Leningrad" and "Peking." Things are easier in this century, and it's easy to keep track of the time in Beijing or Kalamazoo, Mich. But those who need to track multiple time zones simultaneously still face more of a challenge. That's where tools like Sharp World Clock step in.

Unlike many desktop clocks, it's shareware, though it's free to try … Read more

How important is PC processor speed, really?

In the old days, choosing a computer was easy: you bought the one with the fastest processor you could afford. And you knew which processor was fastest (more or less) by its numerical clock-speed rating.

These days it's a lot trickier. Only hard-core techies (and those with the patience to search in Google) know the difference between, say, an AMD A4-3305M and an Intel Core i3-2350M.

And even then, does it really matter? There's a strong argument to be made that processor performance, even in low-cost, entry-level PCs, has reached a level that's good enough for most … Read more

Apple licenses Swiss rail clock design

Apple can breathe a little easier about one part of iOS 6. No, not the Maps app, but rather its use of a certain clock image owned by a Swiss rail provider.

The Swiss Federal Railway service, or SBB, said today that it has reached a licensing agreement with Apple that allows the electronics giant to use its clock on devices like the iPad and iPhone.

An SBB spokesperson tells CNET that the amount of the licensing fee and other agreement details will remain confidential.

We've reached out to Apple and will update if we get a comment or … Read more

Apple to meet Swiss railway over clock-design flap -- report

It may be time for a meeting between Apple and the Swiss rail provider that's accusing the electronics giant of ripping off its clock design for iOS 6.

The Swiss Federal Railway service, or SBB, told global news service Agence France-Presse (AFP) that it would meet in the coming days or weeks with Apple representatives to reach an agreement over the clock design.

Apple, which recently introduced the latest version of its mobile operating system, redesigned the clock in iOS 6. But SBB says it owns the trademark to the design. The SBB clock was created in 1944 by … Read more