The Edifier Tick Tock Bluetooth alarm clock will remind the older readers of the windup alarm clocks of long ago but this one has a few new capabilities. Apart from the digital display and 5 programmable alarms it is an FM radio with a pair of omnidirectional 4W speakers with a frequency response of 90Hz-20kHz. That gives it much better sound quality than your average clock radio although the bass is poor, understandable considering the size of the drivers. In addition to the FM you can input audio via an auxiliary input or pair it with a Bluetooth device so you can also fall asleep listening to the Tick Tock. It is currently in stock on Amazon for $50 and might make a good gift. Check the review at Madshrimps if you know someone who needs help with their sleeping patterns.
"Do not be deceived by the mousy look of the retro Edifier Tick Tock Bluetooth retro alarm clock; thanks to the dual drivers, it is able to produce decent quality sound without distortions and at pretty high volumes. The bass is a little on the low side which is perfectly understandable but considering the overall size of the device, we cannot consider this as a negative point."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Speedlink Gantry Portable Bluetooth Speaker @ eTeknix
- Astro A38 Gaming Headset @ eTeknix
- Noontec Zoro II HD Fashion Hi-Fi Headphones Review @ NikKTech
- Arctic P614 BT Bluetooth Headphones @ Kitguru
- Corsair Gaming H1500 USB Gaming Headset @ eTeknix
- Asus Xonar U5 5.1 USB sound card @ Kitguru
A frequency response of
A frequency response of 90Hz-20kHz from 1.5″ drivers? Wow, I wonder how much of that is free of distortion? 3,000-7,000Hz?
Does this clock phone home to
Does this clock phone home to the mother ship(NSA) or other Bluetooth enabled devices in the neighborhood, I have read some interesting stories about hacking of other wireless devices, and could that speaker pick up some vibrational frequencies when it is not blaring out tunes, such that a block of carefully crafted code be injected over the wireless, and turn this modern little Ben, into Big Brothers tool, or some other nefarious person’s victimization tool. I would like there to be some form of certification sticker, like the ones that come from UL, only this certification agency would give a hack-ability rating, and the device itself could have a warning LCD/other light when the Bluetooth was turned on, or being polled. All these IOT/connected devices are going to need their own firewalls, and be able to be set up to not constantly broadcast their presence or handshaking after they have been paired with another device, this device discovery mechanism needs to be able to be shut off when not needed, or hidden by the use of randomized packets, that only the users devices can properly sniff, for exchange handshakes, and any other data query/transmissions!
Those Cannon printers with their WIFI turned on and transmitting whatever was scanned, or stored into the devices memory buffer, was enough for me, I always try to stay with the good old Ethernet, USB printer plug, and hope the shielding is done properly to keep the signals out of the air. Until there is some form of security certification done by an independent testing lab, the IOT devices will have to wait, and maybe the makers of virus/firewall software can add some functionality to allow a PC/Laptop to scan the home area for any user’s devices that may be transmitting when they are not supposed to, and warn the user. The IOT market needs to think of privacy as the number one issue, before I even think of trusting any device other than a PC/Laptop with the ability to at least have some firewall protection on the software side.
“[Earth is an] insignificant
“[Earth is an] insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea… ” (Douglas Adams, “Hitchkiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,”)
… the point being that the analog clock face is a nice time-telling interface (it’s like a mechanical pie chart) and digital is a step backwards in this “space.”
Not only that, but with this particular unit, you give up a large, readable-from-across-the-room-without-your-glasses display for a small, squinty display.
On the plus side, it includes a shitty radio. Yeah, makes a great gift for people you hate.