alarm

With all due respect to the monochromatic rants of Craving colleague Caroline McCarthy, we think there's actually some use to objects that occasionally change colors, as noted yesterday with the "Luxeed" disco keyboard. Just today, in fact, we found yet another example.

This weather forecaster, according to Gizmodiva, changes colors depending on the state of meteorological affairs--something that comes in handy for those of us who like to keep the drapes fully drawn even at midday, especially after a particularly late night out. And it doubles as an alarm clock, so you don't even need to … Read more

It seems that we struck a nerve with our post the other day on the "Sonic Bomb" eardrum-shattering alarm clock, perhaps a testament to today's multitasked but sleep-deprived society. As a reader service, therefore, we thought we should add the Engio's "Vibrating Alarm Watch" to the list of anti-sleep aids.

It's actually intended for hearing-impaired people, vibrating and blinking when a public alarm is sounded. The watch's mechanisms are triggered by microphones built into its strap that can be programmed to detect specific frequencies. This could be useful even for some whose … Read more

Those of us at Crave enjoy our sleep. So much so that it may show in some of our postings from time to time. It behooves us, then, to have an effective alarm clock so we can do right by you.

We've had our fair share of industrial-strength alarms (with dubious success), but Mr. Sandman may have met his match with the "Sonic Bomb." This master blaster drops a sound bomb at 113 decibels, which Gadgetizer says is "the same thing as a loud car horn" nearby. And if that's not enough, you can … Read more

It's resolution season, as we know all too well, and that means the dreaded twins Kitchen and Carbs have reared their larded heads once again. But those of us who are looking to shed that holiday padding too often find ourselves weak of will, if not appetite.

That's why we'll be giving some serious thought to the "Fridge Alert" spotted on Uber-Review. Although it's being marketed as an alarm that sounds when the door is left accidentally ajar, we suspect that its true use is to bust the perpetrator who lingers too long--and too … Read more

As depressing as it is, Crave has developed a love-hate relationship with Hello Kitty. (It's depressing because we have any relationship at all with Hello Kitty.)

No matter what the direction of our bipolar moods, the day just doesn't seem complete without posting something regarding said feline. So we pass along this item from Chip Chick on a Hello Kitty clock radio and iPod charger combo, which can play MP3 tunes and link to your TV set, as well as control your sleep patterns. That means you can have the evil cat with you at all times, which … Read more

If you're ever in search of a gift for the true narcissist in your life, this may be one worth consideration. You also have our deepest sympathies.

The "Ventriloque" records the voice of your favorite egoist so that he can wake up to his favorite sound--his own voice, of course. (You can always record over the voice just to be irritating.)

Uber-Review says the clock, which is made by France's Tse & Tse Associates, also has a snooze alarm. That may come in handy, or even necessary, depending on how boring your acquaintance sounds.

This may look like a shiny alarm clock with a shiny ball on top--and, well, it is. But not just any ball. The silver orb is actually part of the apparatus, determining the radio station depending on where it's positioned.

Rather than a simple dial or buttons, the magnetized ball moves along a tick-tack-toe-style grid until it rests in one of nine niches that changes the programmable channels, according to Coolest-Gadgets. Just don't lose that ball, or you could end up listening to Paul Harvey for the rest of your life.

When we saw the "iKids" safety system the other day, we liked the idea but suggested that it come with some other function that might give children more of an incentive to avoid losing it, such as games or music. Japan's Softbank Mobile has come up with a similar idea for an even more obvious device--the phone.

Mobile Magazine says Softbank is marketing its Toshiba 812T clamshell handset specifically for kids, as its pink and blue cases would indicate for the clueless. The phone has an emergency tab at the bottom that, when pulled, sounds an alarm … Read more

This cute little alarm clock that i read about on Tokyomango looks like one of those little portable TVs that made a brief splash in the '80s. Actually, in my opinion, it looks more like a toy radar device that would be found in a Fisher-Price "My First U.S. Navy Ballistic Missile Submarine" playset. But that's beside the point.

So it looks like it operates just like your average alarm clock. And since this is the Age of Laziness, it comes with a remote control. As Tokyomango's blogger points out, the remote control is, well, … Read more