clocks

With iOS 6, you can roll out of bed to a mellow reggae beat or leap out of bed to thrash metal -- your choice.

If you use your iPhone as your alarm, you likely have grown tired of starting your day to the same marimba tone. You may not have noticed yet that after installing iOS 6 you can set the alarm to play a song instead of a tone.

Open the Clock app and choose Alarm. When you add a new alarm or edit an existing alarm, tap Sound. Here, you'll see a new Songs section. Tap &… Read more

The new look of Apple's clock app on the iPad that came alongside iOS 6 yesterday is ruffling some feathers abroad.

In a report in Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger (by way of Macrumors), the Swiss Federal Railway service, or SBB, has taken offense to the app's design, to which it says it owns the trademark.

The 1944 design by then-SBB employee Hans Hilfiker (which you can see here) is used in station clocks throughout the railway system, which is well-known for its timeliness. It's also licensed to Mondaine, a Swiss watch manufacturer. 

An SBB spokesman … Read more

I love baking. I love technology. I just never thought to put the two together. Israel-based artist and designer Debbi Nitsan, however, is already on the case.

Nitsan created an entire collection of electronics with their original casings removed and replaced with new, 100 percent more delicious, bread casings. The items include clocks, radios, and flashlights.… Read more

The Cool Timer is free alarm clock software that allows you to set up a countdown timer on your desktop down to the minute and second you want. It is an easy and cool way to keep track of your tasks and scheduling.

The interface is very easy to understand and definitely user friendly. There are only a few feature buttons like Start Timer, Pause Timer and Stop Timer, which are all you really need to get started. There doesn't seem to be any limit on how many hours you can set the timer for. Our testing didn't … Read more

We've seen quite a few diabolical alarm clocks. One of the cleverest so far has been the Ramos clock, a device that makes you get out of bed, locate the disarm panel, and type in a code to shut it down. It's awesome, but also a little expensive, starting at $160.

For the price of free, you can get an Android app that has a similarly evil plan in mind for your morning. Sleep If U Can uses a photo matching system to make the alarm shut up. … Read more

Thursday's tech news roundup is feeling square:

In the search for more money, YouTube is adding video commercials to play before videos on smartphones and tablets. These ads will play for five seconds before users can skip right to the video. As we spend more time on mobile devices, it's only natural for advertising to migrate. Android users will be the first to see pre-roll ads, since the YouTube iPhone app cannot show ads. But that will change in the next YouTube app version for iOS 6.

The Google+ network has updated its sliders. The feature, found in … Read more

Congrats to James A. of Mtn. Home, Idaho, for winning last week's giveaway, a Braven 625s Bluetooth speaker, speakerphone, and device charger.

All around us, it's back-to-school time, and this week's giveaway is here to help you and yours get back in the scholastic swing. First things first, there's that waking-up-early thing. Our prize package includes an Edifier Tick Tock Dock Bluetooth alarm clock and iPhone/iPod docking system that looks like an old-style waker-upper, but delivers sound through the two speakers masquerading as retro bells.

Next up, a 16-inch portable LED monitor from AOC powered solely by USB. The device works with PCs or Macs and includes a built-in smart stand for landscape and portrait display. … Read more

You could wake up to the buzzing of an alarm clock. You could wake up to your smartphone's ringtone. Or you could wake up to the dulcet tones of the Tetris theme music.

The Tetris alarm clock is officially licensed. At first glace, it's a little nondescript. Look closer and you'll see the function buttons are shaped like Tetris blocks.

The clock's real draw are the falling blocks that build each number as the time changes. The gadget is currently available for preorder for about $40 from Firebox.… Read more

Although Windows has a clock of its own, there are plenty of clock applications that add functionality -- or just decoration -- to the task of displaying the time. LCD Clock is a simple program that's fairly light on features, but isn't a bad choice if you're looking for a simple way to view the date and time.

LCD Clock annoyed us right away by forcing us to install the FunMoods toolbar, a piece of malware masquerading as a tool for adding emoticons to social networking sites and e-mail. Although it's not uncommon for software to … Read more