Last night Nick Denton tweeted about standing outside Ssam Bar in Manhattan with "7 Gizmodo guys, 7 iPhones, 6 iPads" (see pic above). Meanwhile, I unboxed my iPad yesterday and spent the evening trying to figure out what the heck it was going to do better than my computer and iPhone.
My hunch is that it's not going to do anything the others do, and it's going to be great for reading and games. But I don't HAVE any iBooks or game apps yet, so right now it's just a very pretty piece of hardware at my deskside (though, I just found a nice list of reviewed apps over at Gizmodo, so this is where the action is right now. I can't wait till Gregory at Unplggd starts pulling in and reviewing more domestic apps).
Meanwhile, I want to share with you a really good, addictive little app that Sara and I have been using on our iPhones for the past few months. It's called Sleep Cycle and it's an alarm clock that measures your sleep, so that you can wake up at the perfect time in your sleep cycle.
My night last night. Not a great night. Had to get up once in the middle of the night due to the leaky AC. I wouldn't have any memory of when that happened, had it not been for this handy little app.
Here's one of the pics that shows where you put it after setting the clock.
Here's the info:
The Sleep Cycle alarm clock is a bio-alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase. Waking up in the lightest sleep phase feels like waking without an alarm clock - it is a natural way to wake up where you feel rested and relaxed.
Since you move differently in bed during the different phases, Sleep Cycle uses the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement to determine which sleep phase you are in.
And here's a demo graph that shows the three levels of movement that are read by the phone and what they correlate to.
And here's one of my better night's sleep from a week ago. Not that you'd want to, but you can also email and facebook your results to your best friends. :-)
You can find Sleep Cycle for $.99 in the app store and here on the web.
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I tried this app but didn't like it so much. No matter what I set the alarm at, the ipod woke me up at exactly 1/2 hr before my alarm. That would be fine if in fact that was my at my lightest in the sleep pattern but it continually was not - even being woken up in deep dreams.
But you don't really dream in your deepest sleep, dreaming is actually closer to waking to maybe it was actually not that far off?
When was this written? What I mean is, why do you have your AC on in early April?
How do I share this article with others through email? Happy Birthday Maxwell, somehow plaxo told me.
When I began using Sleep Cycle, I set the alarm for my usual 5:15. After being awakened at 4:45 a couple times, I set it for 5:30 and set my back-up alarm clock for 5:15. This essentially cuts the "wake-up window" down to just 15 minutes, which is perfect for me. (Yes, I know some readers will think I'm OCD for having a second clock, but my nightmares usually involve accidentally sleeping through class or work.)
Megan, I wondered the same thing! According to the date on the screenshot, though, this was last night.
Does this app take into consideration the dog or cat jumping on the bed? Sometimes she's sneeky enough that I don't notice, and other times it may as well be an earthquake.
@Megan & Abby: It was actually pretty warm here in NYC last night. I got up and put a fan in window.
@Megan & Abby - it's currently 91 degrees where I am on the East Coast - about 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. I had to break down and turn on the AC last night as well.
I'm still trying to figure out why people need laptops, iPhones and iPads...
Love this app. Been using it for a while and I actually wake up feeling rested and not hating the entire world.
I love this app and have been using it for several weeks now with some rather disturbing reports at the end of some wild nights...sleepwise. I love the alarm choices and actually find I have been getting a better nights sleep lately...most certainly a placebo effect.
using it for the alarm sucks, trending how many times I wake up at night during the week was worth the 99c. Seeing a 10 1/2 hour flat line after a hard nights drinking is very very satisfying.
I've been waiting 5 months for my WakeMate device to be delivered. Thank goodness I saw this post - cancelling the WakeMate preorder just saved me $50.
the app sounds great. the picture at top makes me want to gag.
Must be hotter in Manhattan? Here in Brooklyn, last night was PERFECT open-window sleeping weather.
I have an app for sleep/waking up.. it's called Sun. ;) Someone should tell those hipsters in the picture to see some of it!
I have used this app in the past and stopped because i want to wake up at a specific time. I'm weird like that.
Regarding the iPad, ours came Saturday and it is pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the new apps now that it is out and 3rd party developers have their hands on it.
Is anyone thinking about using their iPad as a replacement for a home computer?
I was a little confused at first as to why this was on Apartment Therapy and not Unplggd- was it supposed to be there?
If you don't mind the look of an alarm clock, there are some decent sunrise clocks which also help with the waking cycle (they shine a light so your body will respond to the light and bring itself out of the deepest cycle.)
I am glad to know there are others who use two alarm clocks- I also use two! (When traveling, I usually bring my shaking travel clock, tuck my phone into the pillow, and instruct room service to call.I also wear my pagers to bed on my on-call nights- I am THAT paranoid about missing calls and alarms).
When on call (in a room with no windows), I've been using my iPhone on Goodnight. I'll see how SleepCycle does.
The iPad is not a computer replacement. Do not try this at home.
I could care less about the iPad, I just clicked on this article b/c of the super-cutie third from the right.
Also, you really shouldn't sleep with electronics anywhere near your head, maybe it's just me but it seems really unhealthy.
"I was a little confused at first as to why this was on Apartment Therapy and not Unplggd- was it supposed to be there?"
I'm wondering, too. This is a site about homes and apartments--and has a sister site for technology. Was this just to brag about a new toy?
My sleep is pretty light and easily disturbed; I'd be interested to see how this app tracks my patterns. For waking up, since my bedroom in this apartment is very dark even on a sunny day, I got a sunrise clock so I wake up to light. It works pretty well and I don't get that dazed, shocked feeling from being awakened from sound sleep. I wish I could awaken to natural light, but unless I start sleeping in the living room that's not gonna happen!
I agree with you, jonnifer--it's a mystery to me, too. The computer geeks I work with and the one I live with all say the iPad is just an overpriced toy.
This app does a decent job...I've been using it for a couple of months. Would like it to compare my stats against friends, North American norms ...etc. Currently the data is self contained and pretty useless.
So what distinguishes the iPad from an iPhone? And I second (or third or fourth) the others who wondered why this isn't on Unplggd. But reading and games? OK. I hate to be a hater but it just seems to me that the emperor has no clothes...to each his own...
The only difference is size, designporn. So the iPad is the size and price of a laptop, but it can't do nearly as much as a laptop.