Philips HF3490 Wake-up Light is also a bedside lamp, iPod dock

Did you know that waking up by natural light is a lot less stressful than doing it with sound? Yes, apparently your toast tastes better too. Philips has long been a proponent of light alarms and, in an effort to stay hip with the kids, it's added a detachable iPod / iPhone dock to its latest offering. The HF3490 might never serve as your music station, but it tries hard, bringing an FM radio and some soothing sounds along. With 30 different levels of brightness and a "dusk simulator," this device has enough tweaking options to ensure you wake up just the way nature intended -- with birds chirping and soft sunlight on your pillow, all simulated by futuristically ugly electronics. If you can get over the $199 price, you can pre-order one for delivery on August 22.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2009 6:59PM]

NICE! i kinda want that. I'm a sucker for things that light up and play ipods....

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2009 7:03PM]

didn't something happen between yahoo and microsoft recently ?
can't find a thing about on this website..

[LAY Posted Jul 30th 2009 7:24PM]

Needed room for more novelty iPod dock stories.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:23PM]

I think it has something to do with the fact that engadget is a blog about gadgets and not a tech news blog.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2009 8:13PM]

@erfan they did go on about it a lot a few month ago when it was to-ing and fro-ing. so i dont know why they're neglecting it now :-S

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2009 7:07PM]

That is pretty nifty, except that I wake up at 5:30am, and its already light outside. So something like this wouldn't do much good.

[irfan Posted Jul 30th 2009 7:08PM]

what if it could suck the lightness out of the room? would that wake you up?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2009 9:16PM]

Uh...hello. In the winter the sun is not up at 5:30am. Most people have trouble getting up in the winter time due to the lack of light.

[Augmented Insanity Posted Jul 30th 2009 8:49PM]

What happens if Im facing away from this lamp? It can't possibly wake me up unless it makes a sound, then I get stressed, reach for a can of stella then begin the domestic violence because I was woken up by a sound.

[Jorvay Posted Jul 31st 2009 9:20AM]

Well, if it's not a useful device in your locale, then clearly Philips should scrap it.

[Derrik Posted Jul 31st 2009 8:33AM]

wait where is the wake up light dock for zune... oh yea no one owns a zune

[mnbulldog Posted Jul 30th 2009 9:57PM]

test

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2009 11:19PM]

Would have been more desirable at $99, or even $129.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 12:30AM]

Will the 2 people that buy this receive sufficient customer support?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 2:51AM]

God damn, this is the problem with Apple products.
$30~ for a rubber case that costs $.30?
The new Kengsington alarm clock dock thing that's basically a fat dock connector for 1000x the worth?
I'll stick to my little Logitech Alarm clock I got from Circuit City while it was closing out for $50~ :P
The idea is sound, but $200 is ridiculous.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:21AM]

The ipod dock is fugly. It's presence in the otherwise bearable lamp design betrays the problem that Philips has with it's products - nobody buys them. So, the ipod enticement, the marriage of the utility of ipod dock with the luxury (or futility?) of the wakeup lamp. Yes, the damn things is screaming "buy me, even if you dont like my light, i can power your ipod"

Philips needs to rethink their basic business - incandescent lamps during the WW2 was great..the CFL was ok till the competition came in..the LEDs are a deadend.. the waterloo. No, it's not that Philips lights are no good...but there are cheaper, better, faster options out there. So, be it in the form of the fugly ipod dock or the even fuglier ambilight TVs (and the fugliest of them all - the aurea TV), philips needs to realize that their self delusion brought over by their love for light does not translate into market share....

Philips will do itself a favor if it buys a wakeup lamp for itself - one that will wake it up from its reveries. And throw the light of reality (and the sound ...of cash ...ringing in the korean registers).

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2009 4:54AM]

ok, this "let's put an iPhone dock into everything" madness has to stop

[Yoshi1080 Posted Jul 31st 2009 7:49AM]

I have a wake-up light (not from Philips) and I love it. It's ugly, though, and features only a simple integrated MP3 player instead of an iPod dock. It cost me 200€ and to be honest, this Philips thing seems to be much better! If I didn't already have such an alarm clock, I would totally buy the Philips.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 1st 2009 6:13PM]

I think I'll keep my $200 and go buy a $5 timer and put it on my bedside lamp.