Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Quick! What time is it in Paris right now? Well if you live anywhere but Paris, you probably had to hunt down an online world time clock, or switch to some widget to figure that out. But with this handsome World Time Clock from Oregon Scientific sitting in front of you, the answer would have been a simple twist away. The clock’s brushed metal dial can be turned to select one of the 12 major cities’ time zones (Paris included) which will then show their current time underneath your local time on the inverted LCD display. The clock will also automatically calculate and take daylight savings into account, and includes a basic alarm with snooze function.

Now the $49.99 that Oregon Scientific usually asks for this clock is kind of ridiculous, but it’s on sale at the moment for a slightly more reasonable $24.99.

[ Oregon Scientific World Time Clock ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While this cooking timer from Amadana isn’t exactly new, I do like the falling blocks mode where each block represents a second that has passed, kind of like sand falling through an hour glass, though far more accurate. On the other hand, cooking timers are supposed to be a set it and forget it type device, so who wants to stop what they’re doing to count a pile of tiny blocks at the bottom of the screen? Thankfully there’s also a standard digital clock face that can be easily read from a distance, and like an hour glass, this timer can be stopped and started by simply flipping it over. Clever, but not $55 (5,000 yen) clever.

[ Amadana Cooking Timer ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Like Star Wars, The Simpsons is probably one of the most heavily marketed TV shows of all time. And while things aren’t as bad as when the show first hit the airwaves, there’s still a steady stream of Simpsons related crap merchandise flooding onto the market.

This particular item is your run-of-the-mill analog wall clock that ups the ante with a Duff beer bottle attached to the second hand which Homer’s eyes will follow as it makes its way around the clock face. You can hang one at work to countdown to when it’s time to head to the pub, or hang one over your TV at home to countdown to when the show becomes funny again. (Exact date to be determined.)

Drinkstuff.com’s got it for about $21.

[ Homer Simpson Rotating Eyes Wall Clock ] VIA [ 7 Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given how prolific Lucasfilm has been when it comes to licensing the Star Wars brand, I think it’s pretty much impossible for there to be a Star Wars fan who quite literally has everything. But if you’ve been having a tough time finding the perfect gift for the pretend Jedi in your family, these Star Wars Starships and Fighters Clocks created by Etsy seller YOUgNeek are definitely unique.

The design features an acrylic and chrome Sterling and Noble analog clock with 12 different Action Fleet Micro Machine battleships and vessels arranged around the perimeter. The ships have all been re-finished in a pewter color scheme to more-or-less match the chrome finish on the clock, and you can even request your favorite Star Wars vehicles to be included, if they’re currently in stock. Just be prepared to shell out $89.99 for this unique item.

[ Etsy (YOUgNeek) - Star Wars Starships and Fighters Clock ] VIA [ Geeky Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Damn you Tokyo Flash! While your obfuscated watch designs look cool and stand out in the crowd of boring analog faces, they’ve also influenced other ‘clock’ makers to make it nearly impossible to easily tell the time. Like the Chronochrome for example.

At first glance it looks like another trippy mood light, which it is, but those colored bands are also used to display the current time. Each color represents a different number, so you simply read it from left to right like a regular digital clock display. But that of course requires you to memorize what each color actually means, which sounds a bit too much like homework for my liking. The Chronochrome can also be set to cycle through the colors in various patterns, or dimmed if you’d prefer to use it as a night light. And it’s available from their website for about $73.

[ Chronochrome ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]

By Evan Ackerman

I like lemonade. I like it a lot, in fact. But if there’s one thing that lemonade absolutely sucks at, it’s telling you what time it is. So next time you find yourself with some spare lemons, chop them up and stick them onto the Citrus Clock. The clock is made with two spikes of copper and zinc to impale the lemons on, and will run for a week using the juice contained in one lemon thanks to black magic electrolysis. It doesn’t have to be a lemon, either… Anything acidic will do. Like limes. Or potatoes. Or a battery.

The Citrus Clock doesn’t seem to be commercially available, but hey, you can make one at home! Or better yet, just go to any middle school science fair and steal one.

Citrus Clock ] VIA [ Core77 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Most solar-powered devices aren’t that aesthetically pleasing, but this simple Solar Clock manages to maintain a clean design even with its fairly large solar cell located front and center. The clock can be mounted on the wall in a vertical or horizontal position, or you can swap out the overhanging hands with an included shorter set and simply place it on a table or desk instead.

It’s available from SUCK UK for about $38, but appears to be out of stock until sometime later in the month.

[ Solar Clock ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Evan Ackerman

It’s not too often that an innovative alarm clock comes along (I said innovative, not gimmicky), but when it does, you can be sure it’s worth paying serious attention to. The Moshi IVR clock is one of these. Not only does it look nice, with a big bright backlit display and a stylish base, but it’s completely voice activated. Completely. Just say, “hello, Moshi” and it’ll respond with “hello, command please.” You can then verbally ask it what time it is, to turn the alarm on or off, toggle the backlight, check the temperature, set the time, or a bunch of other things. Seriously, there’s no need to get out of bed or even move your arms ever again, but if you need the exercise, it looks like there are some old-fashioned buttons in the back to program it the hard way. The greatest thing is, of course, the ability to turn the alarm off without opening your eyes, but it doesn’t seem like Moshi is likely to respond to profanity. I hope version 2 will be programmable to allow it to interpret my early morning (i.e. 11am) garbled mumbling.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Moshi IVR clock costs only $50, available on the Moshi website, where you can also see and hear a demo of the voice activated functions of the clock while listening to soothing background music.

[ Moshi ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Ok, so maybe simply multiplying by 7 isn’t the most accurate way to gauge your pet’s age. In fact, university studies have shown that depending on the size and breed of your cat or dog, they could be anywhere from 2x to 7x the equivalent human age, which complicates things a bit when it comes to crunching the numbers. Thankfully though, this Pet Care Clock from Sega Toys is designed to do the difficult math for you. It’s your standard LCD desk clock that shows the time and date, but once you enter your pet’s birth date and specify their approximate size, the clock will also show you their supposed age. (Calculated with a variety of different formulas.) And if you’re the type who likes to celebrate a pet’s birthday you’re in luck. In theory if your dog is aging 7x as fast as you, they should also have 7 birthdays a year, and this clock will actually alert you to every single one of them so you can remember to pick up a gift and a cake on the way home.

[ Pet Care Clock ] VIA [ Gearlog ]