Review: Digital Clock
Score:
75%
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It's a pretty strong sign of quality that a developer of a fairly small utility has gone to the commercial expense of getting it Symbian Signed, and this is borne out in spades by Digital Clock. In this case, part of the reason for the Signed nature is due to one of the utility's unique features, integration with your smartphone's charging system, something which isn't available to 'untrusted' applications.
The idea behind Digital Clock (other than the fact that it's err.... a clock) is that it replaces your standard standalone bedside clock. Given that most people stick their phone on charge each night anyway, why not intercept the start of the charging process and simultaneously kick off a full screen emulation of a bedside clock, in suitably subdued night-time colours and with the screen staying permanently 'on'?
On first use, Digital Clock impresses hugely and you think 'now why hasn't somebody else thought of this before?' - there's even a choice of number formats, skins and orientation (so that the numbers are the right way up, however you choose to prop your smartphone up beside your bed). There's also a permanent daily alarm, again emulating the standalone device.
In truth, the idea works very well - plugging in the charger immediately brings up Digital Clock and you're all set for the night. One downside is that on most S60 smartphones the keypad will also be lit, which rather spoils the elegance of the Digital Clock idea. I'm guessing that if there was any way round this then it would already have been implemented - having the keypad lit all the time is a by product of having the screen lit all the time, with the smartphone's light sensor reporting darkness and keeping the keypad backlight on etc. It's a bit of a shame though.
At the back of my mind there's also a slight, a very slight worry about whether the life of the main screen backlight will be reduced by being kept on for an extra 8 hours a day. I'm guessing there's little data on this sort of use though - you'd have to be part of the bleeding edge experiment!
Still, full credit to Tektronic SRL, who have created something innovative, useful and stable. If you'd like to grab Digital Clock and tick yet another box on your 'ultra convergence' check list then this is an inexpensive purchase that may fit right in with your daily lifestyle and charging pattern.
Steve Litchfield, 19 Mar 2007
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at