Philips Wake-up Light

Philips' HF3490 wake-up light stirs bedheads awake with a simulated sunrise and tunes from an iPod.

Fall is coming. And along with crisp days, beautiful foliage and the promise of eating-related holidays, the annual tilt away from the sun also brings with it some less desirable consequences: shorter days. For those of us who live and die by the alarm clock, darker mornings mean an even bigger struggle to throw back the sheets and face the day.

Philips wouldn’t be the first company to build an alarm-clock light that simulates dawn – those have been around for decades – but it would be the first to combine that concept with another standby of most techie bedsides: an iPod dock. The HF3490 offers iPod addicts some relief from the morning battle with a shot of both their favorite music and gradually brightening light, easing the transition from the land of sugarplum fairies to the land of cubicles and TPS reports.

The HF3490 uses a translucent white veil to hide both the integrated speakers and light, and a red LED display for its more typical time-telling function. A small white arm pokes out the side to serve as a perch for an iPod. In the morning, it will ratchet up lighting over the course of 30 minutes, and fade in a song from the iPod over the course of 90 seconds. For another approach, you can also choose to wake to the integrated FM radio or one of four nature sounds. Besides easing the beginning of the day, it can also ease the end with a dusk simulation that gradually dims out the lights and music as you fall asleep.

The Philips HF3490 currently sells for $200 – only a little more than its standalone $170 wake up lamp. More information can be found at Philips.