I was very happy to receive an iHome dock/clock for Christmas this year, and in the box there was a small note that said iHome apps would be coming to the iTunes Store in December.  They didn't quite make that timeframe, but in early January the iHome + Sleep app went live.  I've since had a week to use it and I have to say, it was worth the wait.

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From the home screen of the app you get a slick interface that shows you what you'd expect - the time.  From here you can setup different alarms, including the time, what music to sleep/wake to, what social networking messages to send out when you go to sleep or wake up, and you can even have the app keep a log of everything that happens on Twitter and Facebook while you're asleep so you can get caught up first thing in the morning.  One of my favorite features though, is right up top on the main screen - the weather.  Knowing that it's 19 degrees when I get up let's me know I better get my butt in gear so the car will have time to defrost.

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Another cool thing is the interface for adding alarms.  Rather than doing the normal text list of alarms, iHome has developed a slick punch-card system for your different alarms.  The card displays the name of the alarm, what time it's set for, and even the album covers for whatever music you're going to sleep or wake-up to.  You can flick through your various cards, and to set an alarm you drag it down into a slot much like "punching-in" to work.  It's a pretty unique and satisfying user experience.

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If that wasn't enough, the iHome + Sleep app even tracks your sleep statistics.  At anytime you can hit a button and see how much sleep you got last night or what your average amount of sleep has been for the past week, month or year.  Very cool.  Finally, as you would expect, it works with my iHome dock exceptionally.

Oh, and did I mention it's free?  Yup.  Free.  I had paid for an app that works as an iPhone alarm called "Awaken," but iHome + Sleep blows it out of the water to the point that I'm probably going to uninstall it.  Anyways, if you're an iPhone or iPod Touch user hit the iTunes Store link below to grab iHome + Sleep.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ihome-sleep/id346249053?mt=8