Voice clock might make it too easy to sleep in

(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer)

This is one of those products that we'd be afraid to use for fear that it might work too well. It was bad enough when we started using a snooze alarm, inevitably making us late for anything and everything. Now there's a new type of anti-alarm clock that makes it even easier to give in to our slothful ways.

The Voice Interactive Alarm Clock replaces the snooze button with a simple uttered command. Its speech recognition software responds to 10 spoken phrases--including "Stop," which means snooze for 5 more minutes. You can also set the alarm and perform other functions just by talking.

If you share our concerns that this makes it all too easy to oversleep, you can also use the clock's touch panel. Or you can forego the whole unsettling experience and let Jeeves awaken you in a more civilized manner.