Retro TV Game Show Alarm Clock

Saturday, November 8th, 2008 |

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If there weren’t already enough alarm clocks on the market to choose from, in order to adorn somehow you bedside table, here’s another novelty. The clock looks like a retro TV. Actually, the alarm clock is housed in a retro-style television and has a couple of different ways to make sure you wake up in the morning. More precisely, the device plays back some old game show themes and sounds that are meant to open your eyes after too many hours of sleep.

Ok, I agree, you must be a fan of modern retro gadgets in order to enjoy and love this alarm clock, but come on, this thing has a remote control to shut it off whenever you please. However, it could be dangerous for heavy sleepers, as it would make it way too easy to lazily open your eyes and flip off the alarm without even thinking about it.

The TV has four different alarms, three are game shows and the other is the TV test signal background. In addition, there are an LCD that displays hour and minute, in a 12 hour format, a month and date display button, three function buttons: Mood light ON / OFF button, Mode button and Set button, a remote control mood light ON / OFF up to 2 meters, a colorful flash mood light and a handle on the top for easy to carry.

The clock measures approximately 9.4 x 8.3 x 7.4 centimeters and weighs 263 grams, while the remote’s dimensions are 6.0 x 3.5 x 1.0 centimeters. The Alarm Clock is powered by 3 x AAA batteries or 4.5V DC adaptor (which are not included).

The package consists of the Retro TV Alarm Clock and the remote control, while instructions are available on the package, the device being easy to set and operate. If you want to add one more alarm clock to your collection you like to ignore in the mornings, then you can purchase the Retro TV Game Show Alarm Clock from SourcingMap.com for an amount of only $19.99.

(Thanks for the tip, William)

(Source: coolestgadgets.com)

Posted in Funny Gadgets, retro | 3 Comments »

Neumann U47 Microphone

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 |

What’s the difference between a 70-year old mike and a brand new 2008 model? Honestly, I’m not that sure there might be any big difference… OK, there should be major improvements done to the actual basic parts, but then again everything has rapidly evolved since the end of WW2. I wasn’t asking about material differences, but spiritual ones. C’mon, what’s spirit got to do with mikes? It has an awful lot when it happens to be a Neumann Microphones model, I tell you.

<-250×250 Square - left->What you see here is the Neumann U47 mike that the Beatles recorded on almost exclusively from 1962 to 1970, as did Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and… Hitler. What, that dirty bastard could sing? Not exactly, but close. The U47 (sounds like a German U boat, lol) was used during the Berlin Olympics in 1936 as German Chancellor Adolf Hitler opened ceremonies with the aid of such device. Soon after, the Third Reich used this one to address and reach the hearts of his fellow countrymen. That’s how the mike gained the nickname Hitlerflasche, or the Hitler Bottle.

Neumann made The U47 specially for Hitler’s public appearances and after WW2, the maker took the old carbon-grain broadcast microphone, which used bits of carbon sandwiched between two plates, and turned it into a mass-produced “condenser” microphone, which has one fixed plate and another that forms a diaphragm moved by sound waves.

I bet there aren’t many of these left and that the one used by Hitler could get more expensive than a small tactical squadron arsenal.

Posted in retro | No Comments »