R-R-R-i-i-i-n-n-n-ggg. 

For Web enthusiasts who don’t get enough time in front of their computers during the day, a South Korean company is offering a new hardware device that can act as an alarm clock and deliver you the latest weather and news the moment you awake.

Even before your first sip of coffee, check out the latest stock quotes, view digital photo albums or video feeds from your bedside.

EmTrace Technologies Inc. has created WidgetStation, a small computer connected to a broadband line that can display miniaturized versions of Web applications known as “widgets.”

Widgets have caught fire in recent years with thousands of developers creating simplified versions of their Web sites that are designed to be embedded on other Web sites. WidgetStation appears to be the first dedicated device for running Widgets.

Widgets typically offer single features rather than whole Web sites. Popular widgets have been developed for Apple iTunes, Yahoo’s Flickr photo-sharing site and Google’s Maps or YouTube.

The prototype device can be hooked up via a cable or a Wi-Fi connection to your computer or directly to a broadband link. Applications like clocks or weather may come as standards in the device but the display possibilities are limited only by the imagination of tech-savvy consumers and their ability to develop their own widgets, Chief Executive Nae-kwon Jung said.

EmTrace, which has focused on software for smart phones until now, is currently in negotiations with manufacturers and hopes to have products on sale in the United States in the first half of this year, Jung said.

(Images: EmTrace Technologies Inc.)