One of my pet fascinations over the past few years has been wondering why there are no “real” MP3 alarm clocks. With portable MP3 CD players available for about $25, you’d think that some company would offer such capability in a clock radio but, alas, such a product is difficult to find below the prices of expensive and bulky table radios. Besides, we don’t need half a gig’s worth of digital music in our alarm clocks anyway, much less iPod docks. Playlist support would be nice, though; geeks culd create sleep and wake mixes.
Philips almost got it right with the Shoqbox but it just wasn’t a great alarm clock and wasn’t priced like one, either, and the same applies to the iRiver Clix Cradle. Well, Americans may not be able to get something small with a decent snooze features, but it looks like our UK brethren can. The aptly named MP3 alarm clock has a simple smart design and even boasts an SD slot for about $60. How does it sound? Who cares? The sleepy U.S. clock radio market — which now feebly markets aux in jacks as “MP3 line in” — could use such a product.