TRENDY GADGET

Alarm clocks built for iPods are old news. Heck, virtually every hotel I’ve stayed at over the past year offers them. But a few new models have surfaced recently with some interesting bells and whistles, including iPhone support.

As with their predecessors, these new “clock docks” are designed to keep on your nightstand or dresser, and they ship with adaptors to fit various iPod models (and a regular audio-in port for non-iPod music players). Docking your device not only charges its battery, but also allows you to listen to your favorite music, podcasts or audiobooks through its speakers, as well as to select a song or playlist to wake up to in the morning.
The following models, however, go above and beyond this basic functionality.

Flip Over This
iPhone or iPod touch users who enjoy watching videos on their device must hold it horizontally to view the widescreen presentation. But this can be difficult when it’s docked in a compatible clock radio since most iPods are snapped in vertically. Now you can have best of both worlds: The iHome iH41 is the first iPod/iPhone docking station that can be tilted on its side to watch video. What’s more, a built-in sensor automatically flips the time and other text for you, making it easily visible on the illuminated LCD screen. You can keep this horizontal orientation to flip through your music (via Cover Flow) or turn the iH41 back upright, if you prefer.

As with other iHome models, this decent-sounding clock lets you wake up to an iPod song or video (and includes a snooze button if you need more z’s). You can also plug in a non-iPod MP3 player into the line-in jack, and it offers an optional battery backup in case of power failure. The iH41, however, doesn’t include an AM/FM radio. Plus it’s not officially iPhone-compatible, so you’ll have to put it in airplane mode to avoid wireless interference.

Double It Up
With more than 160 million iPods sold since 2001, chances are you have at least two of them kicking around your home. If this is the case, the iLuv iMM173 might be for you. It’s the first “dual dock” alarm clock for the iPod and iPhone, allowing you to plug two models into the top of the unit to charge overnight and listen to music from either one.

Each docking tray houses a universal base that fits all iPod or iPhone models with a dock connector (therefore excluding the first three generations of iPods). It also includes a standard 3.5-millimeter audio-in jack for other MP3 players. To prevent interference, this iLuv model is properly shielded to prevent TDMA noise when an iPhone is docked. The 10 watts of total power is ample for a bedroom (with jAura soundcell technology for crisp acoustic audio), plus the oversized LCD display and remote let you easily navigate through its features, such as dual alarm clock, FM radio with eight presets, LCD dimmer, music or buzzer options, and more.

Wireless Wonder
It’s the mother of all iPod alarm clocks -- the top-of-the-line iHome iP47 offers a full-sounding audio system for your iPod or iPhone. As with the iLuv iMM173, you need not put it in airplane mode in order to dock and use an iPhone, plus you can wirelessly dial and receive calls through its speakerphone (with built-in mic) and see caller ID info on the large LCD display.

Have another cell phone instead of the iPhone? No problem, as the iP47 is also Bluetooth-enabled, so you can pair any nearby compatible phone (up to 30 feet away) to receive and place calls. And if your phone or laptop supports Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP), you can stream music from your handset or PC to this great-sounding four-speaker alarm clock. Features of the iP47 include a dual alarm clock; iPod/iPhone music, buzzer, or AM/FM radio wake options; and full-featured remote with snooze.

Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report has just been released, once again evaluating the world’s 100 most valuable brands and ranked them in order of influence. You can scan the entire Top 100 at the official Interbrand Web site. Five tech companies appear in the Top 10: IBM (No. 2, behind Coca-Cola), Microsoft (No. 3), Nokia (No. 5), Intel (No. 7) and Google (No. 10).

Other top tech brands in the Top 50 include HP (12), Cisco (17), Samsung (21), Oracle (23), Apple (24), Sony (25), SAP (31), Dell (32), Canon (36), Nintendo (40), Philips (43), and eBay (46).

Where was Yahoo!? No. 65. Panasonic? No. 78. Motorola, AT&T and Verizon? Not even in the Top 100.

By the way, the annual Interbrand Best Global Brands report uses a mathematical formula to calculate brand strength and influence, focusing primarily on financial strength, importance in driving consumer selection, and the likelihood of ongoing branded revenue. However, there are some criteria, such as being an international company with publicly available financial data. Therefore Mars is excluded (because it’s a private company), as is Wal-Mart (which is not sufficiently global).