Gift of the Day: (What's The Story) Morning Glory? WakeMate Eases The Pain Of Getting Out Of Bed

WakeMate : There are morning people. And there are people who need an industrial sized vat of coffee ready the moment they wake up, agonizingly lift themselves out of bed and stumble in to the light. Wake Mate is a new phone app that eases the pain of reluctant risers by monitoring your sleep cycles and coordinating your alarm to the lightest point in your slumber.

WakeMate works through a wristband that tracks your pulse and wrist movements throughout the night (there's a whole field of sleep study related to the wrists called actigraphy). The band sends its report to the phone app, which in turn sets your alarm for the precise time at which you will be least comatose. The only downside to the WakeMate is that in order to hit this opportune window of alertness, it rings your alarm in a 20-minute period of time before you actually set it. Think of it as kind of a reverse "Snooze Button" (only one you don't pound a dozen times a morning) and a small price to pay for your newfound sunrise bliss.