Oh! Gizmo

By Luke Anderson

I see a lot of strange clocks when browsing around the inteweb every day. However, this has got to be one of the coolest ideas that I’ve seen. This tiny little thing is actually a clock. Well, it’s obviously not the whole thing, but this is the part that does all of the work. All you need to do is decide what to use for hands, and where to put it. It’s only a concept for now, but it seems like an awesome idea.

VIA [ Yanko Design ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve always thought that clocks were such simple devices. Sure, their innards are somewhat complex, but they are quite simple to use. Just a quick glance usually tells you everything you need to know. Of course some people don’t like that they are simple to read, in fact, such people will go to great lengths to make you stare at a clock much longer than you should have to.

Take this Idea of a Clock II, which will make you read a full sentence in order to get the time. I think I’ll stick with my plain clock with roman numerals. Then again some people have a hard time reading those too.

[ Hans Tan Studio ] VIA [ Technabob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Based on the product shots, I originally thought this Private Ocean interactive clock used one of those segmented LCD displays like you’d find on Tiger and Nintendo Game&Watch handhelds. But if you check out the video I’ve included after the jump, the display actually appears to be capable of full-motion animations, which is kind of cool even if they’re just monochrome. While it’s no substitute for actually being in the ocean, the clock does include a vast menagerie of undersea life that will either casually swim by, or dance along to the music if you connect an audio player.

There’s of course a clock and calendar function, and the current time is cleverly displayed with a school of well organized fish. And if you find this type of thing relaxing, the Private Ocean has a multi-colored backlight for setting the mood, as well as a 15, 30 or 60 minute sleep timer if you happen to doze off. You can get it from Japan Trend Shop for $199.99.

[ Sega Private Ocean Interactive Clock ]

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By Luke Anderson

Have you ever wondered how much time you’ve got left on this planet? While that may seem like a deep question, here’s something else for you to think about. How long does this planet have? While no one knows exactly how long it’s got, the guesstimate is around 5 billion years. (around the time our sun blows up) That seems like a long time to keep track of, so why not have a clock that counts down to doomsday for you?

This Big Crunch Clock has been running since 2005, and is slowly counting down to the day the world dies. It runs off of solar energy, which should provide all of the power it needs for many years to come. When you think about it, it’s kind of ironic that it gets its power from the same sun that will likely one day destroy the Earth.

[ Gianni Motti ] VIA [ TechnaBob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I can understand the frustration when a hotel room doesn’t have enough power outlets, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had a room that lacked places to hang things. And to be honest, besides travelers I can’t think of too many other people who would be interested in a combination coat hook/alarm clock thermometer. But since this isn’t even an over-the-door hook, it means you’d have to mount it on the wall of your room, which most hotels would probably frown upon.

In fact it’s even useless as a way to know if you should grab a coat as you’re heading out the door, since it’s only displaying the temperature indoors. But on the glass is half full side of things, at least the hook is made from aluminum instead of plastic, and the clock includes an alarm function. But I can think of far better ways to drain a couple of AAA batteries.

You can find it at Gadgeter.com for about $20.

[ Info Center Coat Hook ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I think I’d be pretty good as a professional alarm clock tester. (I’m sure such a job exists.) Not only would I get plenty of satisfaction from a job that requires me to sleep, but it also puts my uncanny gift of ignoring even the loudest of alarm clocks to good use. And first on the testing block would be this supposed Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock, which includes a bunch of features designed to get you out of bed on time.

The clock has two separate 7-day alarm schedules, which is supposed to allow two people to wake up at different times every day. In reality though, it means one person will always be woken up before they need to. And if you find all 4 of the buzzers to be too annoying, you can choose to wake up to one of 20 preset radio stations instead. On top of that there’s another set of 7 ‘every day’ alarms bringing the total to 21. On the back of the alarm you’ll find a powered USB port, allowing to plug in and listen to a flash drive full of MP3s, or recharge a USB connected device like a cellphone. Most importantly though the alarm clock even allows you to disable the snooze button, for those who’ve become too addicted to “just another 5 minutes.”

You can find the Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock at ThinkGeek for $59.99.

[ Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock ] VIA [ Gizmos For Geeks ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I spent a few years working in a cubicle environment, and while my co-workers and I made the best of a bad situation, it’s only recently that I’ve managed to get most of my soul back. (Ha! Just kidding, I have no soul.)

But if you’ve embraced a life between three artificial walls, this Cubissimo Alarm Clock should be a perfect match to your daily surroundings. It’s a 2 inch cube with an LCD panel on 4 sides that display the time, date, day and temperature. It also includes an alarm and backlight and is actually made of aluminum even though it kind of looks like cheap plastic.

And the aluminum construction also explains why it’s $39 from the Museum Of Contemporary Art Store.

[ Cubissimo Alarm Clock ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re redecorating the office and are looking for a unique clock to sit on your desk, the Word Clock should fit the bill. Alternately, if you’re redecorating the bathroom and are looking for a towel rod that tells the time, the Word Clock would also be an appropriate choice.

Instead of a traditional clock face with moving hands or even a digital display, the Word Clock uses a couple of rotating cylinders to tell the time in phrases. The cylinder with the hours is pretty straightforward, but the other one listing the minutes is a bit on the verbose side. Instead of just saying 2:55 for example, the clock would be read as ‘five minutes to three’ and so forth. The minute phrases are listed in 5-minute increments so the clock is fairly accurate, but I wouldn’t recommend it for timing a marathon or anything like that.

The Word Clock is currently available from Amazon for $122.88.

[ Nextime Word Clock ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you were a child of the 80’s you might remember that Transformers toys came with a red strip of transparent plastic you could use to ‘decode’ your character’s strengths on the back of the box. The same idea is used here with the Seeing Double wall clock created by the Hong Kong design group, Chillychilly.

The minute and hour markings are displayed on top of each other in red and green, making them difficult to read. But the minute and hour hands have a red and green transparent film that passes over these markings allowing you to easily read the current time.

It’s currently available from Revive Home for $112.50.

[ Chillychilly Seeing Double Clock (flash) ] VIA [ Cribcandy ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m sure at one point the look of a digital clock was considered cool or even high-tech but now it’s actually kind of tacky looking. So here’s another take on the projection clock that instead displays an old-fashioned analog clock face complete with roman numerals and a sweeping second hand.

The size of the projection is of course based on how far the clock is placed from the wall but at 10 feet you get an image that’s about 3 feet in diameter. There’s also controls for tweaking both the focus and the brightness. I find it odd though that while there’s clearly a power cord shown in the product shot the clock also requires a AA battery in order to operate.

It’s available from Plow & Hearth for $99.95.

[ Projection Clock ] VIA [ The Green Head ]