By Staff Writer – John Federico (@gadgetboy)

What’s so special about an alarm clock?

Ostensibly nothing.

However, has your alarm ever woken you in the middle of a REM cycle, making you feel like you have to be dragged out of bed?

The WakeMate wants to help you avoid that scenario and make you feel more rested and refreshed when you wake. The WakeMate detects the “semi-awake” state in your sleep cycle and wakes you around the indicated time using something called Actigraphy.

There have been products like this on the market for some time but this one caught my eye for two reasons: price and compatibility.

Similar systems are completely self-contained units with their own timers, meters, user interfaces and desktop software. The WakeMate system dispenses with that complexity and instead opts to use your Bluetooth-enabled cellphone.

To use your WakeMate, install the WakeMate Alarm Application on your iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm or other Java-based ‘Non-Smart’ Phone.

Set your desired wake time within a 20-minute window, then slip on the WakeMate Bluetooth Receiver. When you reach the optimal wake point, the WakeMate Alarm Application will signal the receiver to wake you, presumably with a vibrating alarm.

This model of operation lets you take advantage of something you already have – a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone – to reduce the complexity of the device and cost of production. At $49.99, it’s a lot cheaper than the SleepTracker watch which sells for $179.

You can pre-order a WakeMate right now from their site. Expected ship date is January 25th.

[via OhGizmo]

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Tags: Android , BlackBerry , Bluetooth Accessories , iPhone , J2ME , Java , Palm Web OS , Sleep , Sleeptracker , WakeMate