Innovation: Philips AJL308 - Clock radio morphs into digital picture frame and multimedia platform

Long gone are the days of the clock radio with paddleboat style numbers that would flip around for the time, and offer basic radio reception to wake you up, or put you to sleep. For those people that still use a clock radio for the morning wake-up call, you can now enjoy a more interactive, multimedia experience.

Philips developed the  AJL308 clock radio in a form factor that can deliver a variety of consumer entertainment experiences, yet stay true to its mission. Set to clock radio mode, you have the traditional time, date, and multiple alarm functions displayed on a generous 7” LCD TFT color display. The bonus is your favorite picture or photo sits as a thumbnail (of sorts) image to the right of the time display. Much like I appreciate the larger numbers on my new cell phone, the large color display is ideal for viewing the time and date at a distance, or without your glasses.

Wake-up modes offer a new experience of preloaded “nature” sounds, a more traditional favorite like a radio show or music, or the rude awakening of a buzzer. There are some meditation-like sounds - rain showers, ocean waves, and spa music - that can help you fall asleep. I’m not so sure that offering rain showers is a wise choice for those not wanting to make a bathroom run in the middle of the night.

Variable brightness control of the screen intensity can be set manually or programmed for auto dim start and stop times. The new digital clock I installed on our double built-in oven combination is bright enough to dimly light a corner of the kitchen. I suppose that if you weren’t diligent in setting the brightness of the 7” LCD screen for your bedroom, you’d be trying to fall asleep with the feeling of a high beam headlight staring at you.

Here’s where the AJL308 clock radio from Philips starts to distance itself from the traditional role. From a multimedia perspective, you have available a platform to deliver photos, pictures, video, your own music selections, and over-the-air radio music or news. With a USB flash drive and SD/MMC card slot, you can easily load a variety of your favorite choices or selections.

Maybe this clock radio can be more than just a typical bedside companion. You can enjoy a full screen slide show – with some control like transition effects and timing, as well as browse mode - on the LCD display while listening to your favorite music or video, or set your favorite picture in a smaller thumbnail to compliment the date and time display. Also you can set the background wallpaper – Blue / Green / Red / Purple - for a more personalized appearance or decor.

I can see this clock radio moving into the kitchen, office, or college dorm room. It seems to be a more practical gift to share family photos with grandparents, than a standalone digital picture frame, too.

Comments

[Peter]

More on this topic - here's a follow-up Post you may be interested in.

"I thought the Philips clock radio that morphs into digital picture frame and multimedia platform was a slick wake-up device. Philips has announced their new Wake-up Light Premium and Wake-up Light Music. For those who can’t seem to be without their iPhone or iPod®, this has to be the ticket to a peaceful wake-up call."

It's located here: http://salesbarriers.typepad.com/one_goal_revenue_generati/2009/06/innovation-philips-wakeup-light-premium-and-wakeup-light-music.html

[Michael Parker]

I may buy one of these, but I'm afraid that it might not last as long as my current alarm clock (been using the same one for 10 years). I'll probably wait it out a little bit until there is more competition and the quality has been proven.

Michael Parker (collage picture frames)