Your bedside alarm clock no longer has to be the bane of your existence, at least not if that clock is the Sandman Doppler. Making its debut at CES, this smart clock does much more than jolt you awake — rather, the Doppler promises to be a complete information hub with Wi-Fi capabilities, Bluetooth, and integrated Amazon Alexa to respond to all your needs and whims.
Whether you need to set your Nest learning thermostat before you go to bed or have the coffeemaker begin brewing your morning pot when you wake up, the Doppler serves as a smart hub that can replace your Amazon Echo (after all, most models of the smart speaker don’t have a clock). And if there are a few elements of your smart home to which you need easy access, the Doppler can help. With two programmable buttons, you can control a number of central functions in the home, such as turning on or dimming smart lights, playing your favorite music, opening or closing garage doors, and locking the door and activating the security system. All these capabilities can also be controlled via the clock’s companion app, available on both iPhone and Android devices.
And if you’re not satisfied by the range of functions currently available on the smart clock, the Doppler runs on an open-source code, which means you can add your own features at your leisure. Thanks to six high-speed USB charging ports, your clock also doubles as an energy hub, keeping multiple smartphones and tablets powered up. The Doppler features an RGB LED clock face and digits that are nearly two inches tall so you don’t have to strain your eyes to see the time.
The clock also provides the date, weather and temperature, stock prices, and traffic routes — of course, all of this can be customized in terms of both content and color.
“The Sandman Doppler helps enhance the user experience by bringing immediate and direct interaction between the user and their home devices,” said Alex Tramiel, co-founder and CEO of Palo Alto Innovation, the product’s maker. “We are focused on developing unique products that help make life easier, and what better way to do so than to improve a device that’s been helping many get a jump-start to their mornings for years.”
The Sandman Doppler is available for pre-order starting at $119, with shipments beginning in July.
