I stumbled accross an interesting free iPhone app that may be of interest to others here called "Dream Machine".
http://dreammachine-app.com/
1) The main feature I like is that is records your "dream state" in the form of a nice graph, showing your awake/asleep states through the night, by monitoring your sleep movements with the iPhone acceleometer.
2) It is an alarm clock that wakes you up at "around" the 4:30 am target time, based on how deep your sleep is, to minimize being awaken from a deep sleep.
3) Plays various audio que theme sounds (like space travel, vacationing, etc.) WHILE YOU SLEEP, based on the dream state that it detects you in! Kind of an alternate way to influence ones dreams...