Up with the birds: Birdbox Alarm clock

In an ideal world I'd be awoken by the breaking of dawn accompanied by a chorus of birds. In reality, I'm more likely to be awoken by a neighbourly dispute, the dustmen or the sound of my flat mate bagsying the shower first. That's why I like the idea behind this Birdbox so much. It brings a touch of the rural ideal to us urban types. And with no real animals or animal poo involved, thank god.

Buy one of these flat pack birdhouses from the Design Museum shop and download an app onto your i-phone/i-pod touch. Park your i-pod inside the birdhouse with the screen visible behind the circular hole. When the alarm goes off,  the screen displays a virtual menagerie of birds, nesting, cooing and being cute. The danger is that you then sit entranced by the feathered creatures and still fail to get out of bed but that's the gamble you take for a bit of prettiness at 7am every morning.

When it's not showing cute birdies, the screen displays a regular clock face, matched to the colour of your Birdbox.  I've selected the wood effect box here (well, if you're going to pretend you've got a bird house in your bedroom you may as well do it properly, right?) and it also comes in blue, green or white so there's surely a model suitable for any bedroom décor. Infinitely more stylish than a tamagotchi, the Birdbox costs just £8.