Lexon's new On-Off alarm clock literally rocks

If all of those new fangled "buttons" that they put on them thar alarm clocks these day are getting you down, you might be interested in the new On-Off clock from Lexon. Designed by Nina Tolstrup, the On-Off LCD alarm clock can have its alarm activated by tilting it into the on position, and the alarm can be turned off by (you guessed it) tilting the clock to the off position. While we're sure this will result in some exciting and violent early morning clock tilting action, we're not so sure how snooze functionality factors in. In any case, the clock should be available May 15th in numerous colors, and for the quite reasonable price of $36.50.

[Via Gear Live]

[RGB @ Apr 24th 2006 10:04PM]

Wow. How useless is that.

[CyBeR @ Apr 24th 2006 10:08PM]

I'm not so sure this is a good idea. It's already too easy to turn them off in the morning, more sleep being the prime objective. Just being able to knock it over would make it a definite no-brainer. IMO the tilting should be a fake action: make it turn off for a minute or so and then go on again even louder to really scare you awake.

(Yes, these things are the spawn of the devil, but they are a necessary evil. So evilness should not be limited.)

[Darth Poo @ Apr 24th 2006 10:13PM]

I would be afraid I'd hit it so hard it would fly through the air, killing, my dog, or something electronic because I hate waking up before 'noon.

[Darth Poo @ Apr 24th 2006 10:22PM]

Ooops "killing ME". It's a neat idea in concept, but in practice it could get messy.

[tiuk @ Apr 24th 2006 10:28PM]

Yeah, you ever put a ruler on the side of a desk and hit the end really hard? I picture the same effect happening with this thing.

[diulei @ Apr 24th 2006 10:29PM]

Probably not a good idea to use it to wake up, better for use in some artsy-fartsy studio to set it as a reminder or something.

[cycomachead @ Apr 24th 2006 10:40PM]

it seems apple-esk cool- but I cant buy it
I need to save money for anMBPro

[Diane Ensey @ Apr 24th 2006 10:46PM]

How big is it? Bedside tables aren't that big. I can just see fumbling for that thing - water knocked over, book on the floor. Yeah, that'd wake me up.

[neuralien @ Apr 24th 2006 11:02PM]

well, it can double as a boomerang. wonder how the alarm thingy will react to that?

[John Doe @ Apr 24th 2006 11:09PM]

Oh heck no. I�m bad enough with hitting the snooze button even with the alarm across the room. This thing I wouldn�t wake up until late afternoon. Now maybe if this thing came with a locked cage where I can put the key upstairs or something. Then lets talk.

[Nukes and Candy @ Apr 24th 2006 11:31PM]

I agree the it is too easy to tilt it, turning it off to continue your Alice In Wonderland dreams. You could even flip it accidentally before going to sleep, so you wake up two days latter wondering what happened to the alarm clock, realizing you missed the Sienfeld Marathon.

So here�s my idea on how to make it work:

1. Make it really heavy and real loud, I mean, like 100 pounds heavy, so you have to use all you muscular power to place it on the right position to turn it off, suffering for the high tone noise.

2. Rig it with low voltage, on-contact zapper (1,000 volts should do the trick). So when you tilt it, it gives you a shock, waking you up instantly. This will give you the extra "umph" you need to start the day with a bang!. This would also be really, annoyingly noisy.

Anyone with me?

Alexander Wunderlcih

[DAN @ Apr 24th 2006 11:53PM]

To make it snooze, you have to balance it perfectly on it's edge.

[yihpin @ Apr 25th 2006 12:10AM]

Here's an idea: Base its functionality on multi-tipping/tilting. For example, to snooze, tilt once in either direction. To switch off the alarm, tilt it twice.

However, even that's a little too easy to turn off completely. One way would be to leave one-tilt as snooze, but make the number of tilts to turn off the alarm dependent on something else, like the sum of the digits in the time, or even a random number displayed in the corner.

[tom @ Apr 25th 2006 1:10AM]

I know this would never wake me up. Apparently when my dad would wake me up, i'd have whole conversations with him, while my radio is on full volume on a rowdy morning show, that wakes up my sister across the hall. All of this and I'll just wake up in time, but not remember anything. Tilting that thing in a drowse would be way too easy. The sleep button isn't a problem for me though, because my alarm is across the room hidden behind my blinds. Make me work to shut it off ;)

Sweet idea nukes and candy. I know that would get me up in the morning.

[Doraemon @ Apr 25th 2006 1:14AM]

wow.. it is cool alarm clock that has such function.

[Pat @ Apr 25th 2006 1:23AM]

Maybe the people who think they would turn it off too easily just need to learn and condition themselves to wake up to an alarm. I know if I dont do it for a while then I will not wake up to one, but if i am "in the groove" then I will just get right up when my alarm goes off. Oh well through, cool idea.

[Revrant @ Apr 25th 2006 1:38AM]

Never had alarms wake me up...Literally, I sleep right through them, part of why school was so difficult, a person waking me up took more effort than it should, being a heavy sleeper has it's downsides.

I'd be afraid of knocking a random animal into a Coma or something with this thing though. I've found setting a 5.1 sound system on max volume and getting a nifty timer plugin works wonders where alarm clocks falter. ;)

[Jack Skellington @ Apr 25th 2006 2:56AM]

What ever happened to the flying alarm clock ball or the egg you hung from the ceiling and hit when it went off and eventually had to stand up to turn off?

Revrant> I agree, loud music is a REALLY great way to get up...could also be considered a cardio exercise cuz it gets your heart pumping :p (I used to scare the sh!t outta myself in high school)

I like the idea of a shocking alarm...but some people really dont like to be shocked, so it'd be a very small market i bet... This thing should tilt for snooze and have a real off button somewhere...

I think a clock that had a limited number of snooze presses would be a good idea; Say you had 5 presses, after each time the alarm comes back on it should be louder, and on the 6th time coming on, it is unbelieveabley loud and can only be turned off by turning the switch...which is wirelessly connected across the room, or on the ceiling :)

[lizzie @ Apr 25th 2006 9:15AM]

hrm, i agree that it looks a bit too easy to turn off.. it would've been better if you had to turn it over into an upside down v shape instead, or maybe just make a normal alarm clock with a really really loud alarm. and maybe strobe lights? and techno music?

[Jeff @ Apr 25th 2006 10:20AM]

For snooze, it's probably as easy as tilting it to the off position - to silence the alarm - and then tilting it back to the "armed" position.

I mean, the design of the device is quite elegant. We have no reason to assume its operation won't be as well. I, for one, kinda want one.

[david @ Apr 26th 2006 10:13PM]

Having two relatively clumsy and inquisitive cats, this alarm clock would never work for me.

[brandon @ Jul 18th 2006 10:50PM]

to anyone thinking about buying this clock....DON'T. it is TINY....i mean really TINY. this thing could fit inside a cracker jack box. totally not worth the price.

[Wolfsoap @ Jul 21st 2006 2:25PM]

Where can I buy one of these?

[seletit @ Aug 12th 2006 1:47PM]

Absolutely on my wish list! Where can I buy it?

[Eivind @ Aug 14th 2006 5:53PM]

OMG i must have one of those..where can i get one of thouse?

[sorin @ Feb 5th 2007 7:12PM]

I bought one of these about two weeks ago in my quest for a decent alarm clock that isn't too loud or too bright. It's only about 5 inches wide, through you would never be able to tell from any of the photos online. It feels and looks extremely cheap up close, btw, don't be fooled by the pretty pictures.

I'm a relatively light sleeper, so the alarm in this thing works for me, but probably would not work for heavier sleepers. Setting the time and alarm you will almost certainly need to look at the manual to understand how the two buttons actually make this work (shitty design - don't loose your manual). There is a larger button, also on the back of the unit that turns a backlight on for 3 seconds, which is fine for me. Power is 2 AAA batteries.

I'd recommend looking for something else. This is at best a $15 clock being sold for $39. I'm keeping mine only because of the cost and hassle to return it.

Candidly, I would prefer an iPod alarm clock, if I could find one that had a display somewhat dimmer than a full moon.