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timepiece posts

Bang & Olufsen's multifunctional BeoTime gets carefully handled

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 4th 2009 at 5:50AM

It's rare that we get to see magic wand-shaped remote controls, and rarer still for them to have integrated alarm clocks. The Bang & Olufsen BeoTime is just that sort of exotic specimen, and its $375 touch-sensitive aluminum body has now been tested for our amusement. Being able to turn on your other B&O products by simply grabbing the remote or setting an alarm for the desired time struck positive notes, and those bite-sized displays earned praise too. With automatic backlighting, built-in accelerometer, and full channel readouts, they ensured the minimum of strain for the user (which is probably still pretty high considering they're tiny!). There wasn't much to complain about, but at that price point you wouldn't expect it either. Full hands-on gallery can be found at the read link.

Machined Gear Clock makes watching the time pass a true joy (video)

by Darren Murph posted Oct 28th 2009 at 3:58AM

We've seen no shortage of homegrown clocks in our day, and while most are cute for their time, few are worthy of being lauded in this manner. Alan Parekh's Gear Clock is a delightful mishmash of machined gears, thrown together in a fashion that resulted in an actual time-telling gizmo. Hop on past the break to watch this thing spin, but be sure to hold the mute button for the lead-in. Clearly 'Sound Check' wasn't activated.

Continue reading Machined Gear Clock makes watching the time pass a true joy (video)

Winwatch wants RFID tags in your next wristwatch -- what could possibly go wrong?

by Darren Murph posted Sep 4th 2009 at 8:49PM

Looking to simultaneously trick your employees into thinking you love them and keep better tabs on their whereabouts? If so, you should definitely look into handing out Winwatch-approved timepieces as "performance incentives," which should be sporting an oh-so-telling RFID tag in the near future. The Switzerland-based outfit has just announced plans to patent an RFID-enabled crystal gasket that would be placed in luxury wristwatches, and while they're pushing it as a way for companies to weed out counterfeit products, we're sure the privacy advocates in attendance can think of far darker applications. Samples are slated to start shipping out later this autumn, which means your window to snag a non-voyeuristic watch is hastily closing.

[Via ABlogToRead]

Video: Continue Time wall clock articulates in weird, wondrous ways

by Darren Murph posted Jul 17th 2009 at 8:39AM

It's hard to say why fanciful clocks really get our juices flowin' -- after all, it's not like we're in any hurry to watch the best moments of our lives tick away -- but Sander Mulder's Continue Time is certainly amongst the classiest timepiece designs that we've seen. More than just a concept, this limited edition (just 20 were made) masterpiece is engineered to be wall mounted, boasting an articulating arm that pivots and swivels in order to display the current time to those with the appropriate vision. In the artist's words: "on this clock, two out of the three pointers rotate around another pointer, instead of the central point on the clock face, as with traditional clocks." It's a thing of beauty, innit? Hop on past the break for a mesmerizing clip.

[Via Unplggd]

Continue reading Video: Continue Time wall clock articulates in weird, wondrous ways

Bang & Olufsen's BeoTime alarm clock / remote favors a flute

by Darren Murph posted Jul 15th 2009 at 12:20PM

Bang & Olufsen -- the Danish boutique retailer famous for engineering gorgeous AV products that only a sliver of humanity can afford -- has just introduced its newest product, and it's a far cry from the gargantuan HDTVs and superfluous sound systems that it's used to shipping. Designed by Steffen Schmelling and inspired by Mozart's The Magic Flute, this elongated wireless alarm clock actually serves another purpose. Once it has awoken you from your slumber just in time to catch The Price Is Right in high-def, you can take it with you in order to control some of your other B&O components. The cubes you see are actually displays, and the built-in motion sensor enables display backlights to activate with a simple touch. We're told that the device should hit showrooms this August for $375, though you should probably budget for an anger management course to keep from smashing this thing to bits the first time it buzzes at 5:30AM.

[Via PRNewswire]

Gallery: Bang & Olufsen's BeoTime alarm clock / remote favors a flute

Infallibly Polite Speaking Alarm Clock does what it says

by Darren Murph posted May 20th 2009 at 1:07AM

Truth be told, there's an alarm clock out there for every type of waker, but this bad boy just might be the most enjoyable (if such a thing actually exists). Sold by the always intriguing Hammacher Schlemmer, the Infallibly Polite Speaking Alarm Clock supposedly "reproduces the subtle wit employed by P. G. Wodehouse's most famous character, the valet Reginald Jeeves." In fact, it plays back 126 fey wake-up messages in the voice of Stephen Fry, with our favorite being the following: "Excuse me sir, I'm so sorry to disturb you, but it appears to be morning... very inconvenient, I agree... I believe it is the rotation of the Earth that is to blame, sir." If only the thing weren't $99.95, we'd have one in every room.

[Via Slashgear]

Update: ThinkGeek has it for just $69.99 -- score! Thanks David!

Video: La Machine à Ecrire le Temps writes time, mesmerizes brains

by Darren Murph posted Apr 27th 2009 at 6:51AM

There are horologes, and then there's La Machine à Ecrire le Temps, known less formally as "The Machine that Writes the Time" -- which is exactly, literally what it does. This stunning masterpiece was recently unveiled at Baselworld 2009, and while only those obsessed with time will really appreciate the 1,200 components needed to make this thing tick, anyone into whiz-bang gadgetry will find themselves impressed by the vid of just past the break. Oh, and if you're looking to buy one to dress up your new sitting room, you should be fully prepared to liquidate nearly $350,000 of whatever you have left to squeeze.

[Via OhGizmo]

Continue reading Video: La Machine à Ecrire le Temps writes time, mesmerizes brains

Ora ilLegale clock tips to compensate for daylight savings time

by Darren Murph posted Apr 18th 2009 at 9:12AM

Genius. Pure genius. In order to save us all from smashing buttons on our digital alarm clocks or stripping the gears in our analog ones, designer Denis Guidone has dreamed up this masterpiece. The Ora ilLegale clock boasts no numbers and is obviously missing a significant portion of its base; these two factoids enable it to become the easiest clock to adjust to changes in daylight savings... well, ever. The best part? We're told that it'll actually hit production soon, though there's no indiciation of just how pricey it'll be. Not like it matters -- you're totally buying one, and you know it.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Tanita's BC-1000 Body Composition Monitor wirelessly sends embarrassing weight details

by Darren Murph posted Mar 19th 2009 at 12:39AM

Remember all those ANT+ wireless peripherals that were supposed to come flooding out after the introduction of Garmin's FR60 Fitness Watch? We suppose said flood has to start somewhere, and this is it. Tanita's BC-1000 Body Composition Monitor is hardly more than a sophisticated scale, designed to hold humans for just moments at a time while collecting measurements on muscle mass, overall physique, daily caloric intake, metabolic age, bone mass and visceral fat. From there, the unit can either send those details wireless to the aforesaid watch, or it can beam them to any PC with an appropriate dongle. The device is slated to ship this summer for $279.99 with a USB stick or $399.99 with an FR60 watch.

Hyundai's MB-910 watch phone gets priced and dated

by Darren Murph posted Mar 16th 2009 at 3:24PM

Remember Hyundai's MB-910 watch phone that we spotted around this time last month? How could you possibly forget, right? That masterpiece / atrocity is actually coming to market, and Mobile Gazette has it that the bugger will cost around £200 ($281) when it lands sometime in Q2. As for specs, we're told that it'll boast tri-band GSM connectivity, Bluetooth, a 176 x 132 resolution touchscreen, 128MB of storage, USB 2.0 and the obligatory time-telling mechanism for good measure. Too bad it's closer to "heinous" than "halfway decent."

[Via PMP Today]

Kisai Sensai watch: it's like cold steel on your wrist

by Darren Murph posted Feb 19th 2009 at 9:02PM

We're not sure if you've noticed, but choosing a wristwatch just might be the most difficult decision a man or woman has to make in their entire life. If you just keep hemming and hawing, why not add a little more confusion to the mix with Kisai's Sensai? This lightweight piece is constructed from high grade aluminum, and it supposedly uses "positive shapes and negative lines" in order to create a face that's impossible to ignore. The LEDs beneath the metal tell time in code, a process that reportedly takes between eight and ten decades to master. Thankfully, instructions are provided in both English and Japanese, though native Yiddish speakers may have some difficulty piecing it all together. Purchase at your own risk.

Tokyoflash's Heko watch: the perfect gift for fashionable cryptologists

by Ross Miller posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 12:04PM

We've always been a fan of watches with unconventional ways of telling time, and Tokyoflash's Heko is no exception. The top and bottom rows each have four LEDs aligned for their analogous analog positions -- 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00 -- and two lights in between to indicate one-hour / 15-minute intervals, respectively. The four diodes in the middle are used when the minutes aren't a multiple of five. For example, in the picture above we've got (from left to right) 1:37, 1:43, and 10:13. More instructions are available on the product page. Made from solid stainless steel and weighing in at 140 grams, it's available for 9,800 yen ($109) and comes with white, blue or multi-colored LEDs.

Gallery: Tokyoflash's Heko watch: the perfect gift for fashionable cryptologists

Asteroids wristwatch one-ups the Pong-playing original

by Darren Murph posted Dec 17th 2008 at 5:55AM

John Maushammer enjoyed his 15 minutes in the limelight from the creation of the Pong wristwatch, but as any true superstar will tell you, a quarter of an hour just isn't enough. The DIY Asteroids Watch is a real step above the aforementioned predecessor, with an inbuilt tilt sensor so the wearer can control the action by simply tilting their wrist. We'd gush about it more, but that'd just be doing ya wrong -- instead, we'll point you to the live action vid waiting just past the break.

[Via NerdWithSwag]

Continue reading Asteroids wristwatch one-ups the Pong-playing original

Thanko's latest MP4 watch boasts 1.8-inch display, video camera

by Darren Murph posted Dec 14th 2008 at 2:11AM

Thanko's last MP4 watch was, um, less than gorgeous, but this one can actually be worn in public without automatic public humiliation. Sure, it's still a bit stocky, but we're confident that fashion-forward nerds could still pull it off. In between the two (p)leather straps sits a 1.8-inch 160 x 128 resolution color display, a multimedia player with MP3 / WMA / AVI / JPEG support and a video camera capable of logging VGA-quality clips. You'll also find a mini-USB port and an internal speaker, and there's 4GB of internal memory to go along with about 3.5 hours of music playback time. All yours (if you live in Japan) for ¥14,800 ($163).

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Cuckoo clock loudspeaker kicks out the jams, you out of bed

by Darren Murph posted Dec 9th 2008 at 8:43AM

And you thought The Shining cuckoo clock was terrifying -- imagine waking up to this. Designed by French artist Stephane Vigny, the loudspeaker clock does exactly what you'd expect it to. When the time comes, the doors flip open, the bottom woofer extends out and a cacophonic emission of sound is heard as you angrily wake from your slumber. We can't imagine that outstretched woofer surviving too many mornings of you waking on the wrong side of the bed.

[Via MAKE]