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The Flappie AI cat door stops your pet from gifting you dead mice
If you're tired of your cat bringing you a dead mouse as a present, Flappie's cat door might be the solution.
The best gadgets for your pets
Find the latest and best gadgets for your pets, chosen by experts at Engadget.
Ring announces a wearable for your lost pets that's just a QR code
Amazon’s Ring is mostly known for doorbell cams and consumer-grade surveillance tech, but the company’s moving past humans and onto our beloved furry friends. It just announced the Ring Pet Tag to help find lost pets, as the tag attaches to a collar and includes a bevy of digital information about the animal, should it wander away from the yard.
Google can now find your pet's doppelgänger in works of art
The Arts & Culture app uses machine learning to find matches in paintings, sculptures and more.
German animal shelter is posting profiles of adoptable pets on Tinder
An animal shelter in Germany is posting profiles of its adoptable animals on Tinder in hopes that lonely singles will 'swipe right' on a new pet.
The best GPS trackers for cats and dogs
By Nick Guy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to GPS trackers for cats and dogs. A GPS pet tracker can save your cat's or dog's life if it ever escapes home. After spending more than 25 hours researching and testing four trackers, including having Wirecutter staffers take them all on a trip around Manhattan and a 35-mile bike ride, we've found the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker & Activity Monitor to be the best tracker for most pet owners. Not only is the Whistle 3 as quick and accurate at tracking as any other model we tested, but it also has the longest-lasting battery by far. This means the battery is more likely to have juice if Fido does get out, and you'll have a better chance of tracking him. While a GPS pet tracker doesn't guarantee you'll find a lost cat or dog, the Whistle 3 does give you the best chance of doing so. We also like its hardware and software design much better than that of the other models we tested: It's easier to use than anything else, and it feels totally secure when attached to a collar.
Go Dogo trains your pup while you're away
A bored dog is an unhappy dog. So if you have to commute to the office during the work week, keep your pup entertained and mentally engaged with Go Dogo.
Wayzn turns your sliding door into a smart pet entrance
Pet owners who leave their animals at home for long stretches of the day often turn to dog sitters or doggie doors to let their pets in and out of the house. Wayzn thinks it has a better solution. The new Wayzn Smart Sliding Glass Door Opener is an app-powered device that lets you open and close a sliding door, remotely, whenever your pet needs. It will be on display at CES, and according to the company, it's already been named a CES 2020 Innovation Awards honoree.
NVIDIA's AI can put your pet's smile on a random animal
We've already seen how AI image-processing algorithms can be dumb and smart at the same time, and that's on full display with NVIDIA's latest interactive demo. "GANimal" lets you take a picture of your favorite pet and transfer its expression to any random animal or breed including pugs, hyenas, bears and lions. That creature will then "smile" or pose just like your Fluffy or Fido.
'Uber Pet' will let drivers know your furry friend is coming too
Uber is testing a new ride option called Uber Pet, through which you can give drivers a heads up that you're bringing your pet along. Starting November 16th, riders in Austin, Denver, Nashville, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tampa Bay will see the option in the Uber app.
Petcube's Bites 2 and Play 2 are smart speakers in disguise
Unsurprisingly, most smart-home gadgets are fairly human-centric. But what about all the furbags that live with us? Don't they deserve a little slice of the connected dream? Petcube certainly thinks so. The company has two pet-camera products, the Bites and the Play. The former lets you sling treats at your cat or dog, while the latter has a laser allowing you to "play" with them remotely. Both models have just been refreshed, with a few interesting upgrades: a wider camera view (180 degrees, up from 138) and Alexa baked in. They're available starting today.
Ford's noise-cancelling doghouse keeps pups calm during fireworks
Many dogs and other pets are terrified of fireworks, and for good reason -- their more sensitive hearing makes that pleasant popping turn into a cacophony of sounds. Ford, however, might provide some relief. The company (which is no stranger to high-tech beds) has built a doghouse that uses noise cancelling to minimize canine agony during fireworks shows. Like the technology in some headphones and Ford's own Edge SUV, the kennel detects explosions with microphones and counteracts them by pumping out frequencies that mitigate the sounds or eliminate them altogether. The body includes soundproofing cork panels, anti-vibration risers and even soundproofed ventilation, while an automatic door helps your pooch quickly take shelter.
The best water fountain for cats and dogs
By Rebekah Valentine This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. A source of clean, running water encourages pets to drink—which can play an important role in long-term health, especially for cats. After researching 30 pet water fountains and testing nine, we found that the Catit Flower Fountain is easier to maintain and use than any other electric fountain we looked at.
Google Photos can pick your pet out of a furry lineup
Google Photos has long been adept at recognizing animals in a generic sense. But let's be honest: the real reason you're digging through photos is to find shots of your specific pets when they were little balls of fur. Accordingly, Google has made those pet searches much easier. Photos is now smart enough to recognize individual and dogs, placing their shots alongside people. You can name pets, too, so you can look for Chairman Meow or Rover instead of typing in generic "cat" and "dog" queries.
Ya Doggie solves the pet food problem you didn't know you had
The adage that "dogs grow to resemble their owners" is not much of a compliment anymore in America -- namely because it portends that our pets will become as portly as their people. In fact, as CBS News reported earlier this year, a third of American dogs are considerably heavier than they should be and it's shortening their lifespans. However, a smart pet food scoop from Santa Cruz, CA-based Ya Doggie promises to not only help establish better feeding habits but also save you from kibble runs.
Kuri home robot can tell your pets from people
Mayfield Robotics' Kuri isn't out yet, but that isn't precluding the company from giving it some big upgrades ahead of the robo helper's late 2017 debut. Kuri can now recognize cats and dogs -- it'll know the difference between your pet and your significant other. The robot's vision cameras are also receiving an upgrade to 1080p, so you can expect higher-quality views of what's going on at home.
Adorable Cozmo robot will soon recognize pets
Owners of the Anki Cozmo robot will soon be able to have it interact with their pets. An upgrade slated to roll out during the week of December 5th will add new functionality to the tiny automaton that includes reactions to dog and cats.
Acer reveals 'Pawbo' pet accessories
Acer is branching into pet accessories with a recent acquisition called Pawbo, and has revealed at IFA 2016 that it'll soon release a bunch of dog- and cat-centric products. The first one, the Pawbo+ interactive pet camera, lets you keep an eye on or even chat with with Fluffy or Bowser, in case they're traumatized by your absence. Equipped with a microphone and speaker, it lets you see them and carry on a two-way "conversation."
ICYMI: Eye exams go DIY and smartfeeding your pets
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A new device can calculate people's eyeglass prescriptions without needing to see an optometrist, though whether that's actually responsible or not is up to you. Meanwhile a cloud-connected smart petfeeder that suffered from downed servers had to send a notice to owners to feed their pets manually, since the machines lost all connection and didn't release food. There's a lot to talk about this week but we recommend reading up on NOAA's three month weather outlook, since everyone will be talking about the DNC this weekend anyway. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ICYMI: How cancer travels, true hoverboard and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-226789{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-226789, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-226789{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-226789").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT researchers discovered that cancer cells can unclump to squeeze through teeny capillaries, then reassemble as cancer clumps on the other side. Zapata Racing has a prototype of a real hoverboard that can fly just like the Green Goblin's, but only for 10 minutes at a time. And a smart toy for pets called PlayDate will let you play with your cat or dog remotely, by moving the ball around through an app and watching your pet's reaction. We also wanted you to see the video of some construction equipment in a Transformers-like battle, after the humans operating them got into some sort of argument and decided to settle it like Gladiators of road construction. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
