NEWS – At CES 2019, Lenovo revealed the Smart Clock with Google Assistant, the latest in its line of smart living products. First and foremost, it’s a clock. It has a four-inch display that tells the time and sounds the alarm in the morning. It is, however, much more than just a clock. It can gradually turn up the lights in the room, display the first event on your schedule, find out how long your morning commute will be, and read the morning news to you. All this is done by voice — “Hey, Google!” — and is powered by Google Assistant.
Lenovo’s device is smart. It can play music or a podcast, search the web, and display the weather. It can perform groups of related commands in the morning, known as a routine. It even lets you pick what keywords trigger what routines. It’s also connected. It interoperates with other smart devices and allows you check your front security camera, turn on the coffee pot, or listen in your baby to make sure he’s still sleeping, all from the comfort of your bed.
The Smart Clock has a 6-watt speaker, a touch screen running at 800 x 480, a USB port for charging your phone, and Bluetooth connectivity, but unlike its competitor, the Amazon Echo Spot, it doesn’t have a camera. That’s a smart idea for any device that will be the bedroom.
The Smart Clock is covered in a soft, grey fabric. From the display it tapers down to a much smaller back, making it less obtrusive on your nightstand. It’s priced at $79.99 and will be available spring 2019. Visit lenovo.com for more details.
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Does anyone know if this alarm would still work if your Internet connectivity went down?
I don’t think I want to trust being late for work to my ISP.
Great question. According to this post in Lenovo’s forums, it should work fine without Internet access–as you would think–but at least one person seemed to have problems making it work. I think you would need to make sure that your “alarm sound” isn’t a resource on the Internet.
(https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-Smart-Display-Lenovo/Alarm-clock-not-working-when-internet-is-down/td-p/4290181)