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Switched On: The fork, the ficus and the flandoodle
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. As sensors and crowdsourcing give us ever more granular data into the norms and deviations of the world around us, enterprising developers and hardware companies have trotted out various combinations of atoms and bits to package that awareness, sometimes paired with recommendations, into products. Back in March, Switched On discussed a number of Kickstarter projects (all of which have now shipped) that extended sensor-based monitoring and notification to remote locations (provided there was WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity). Where does it end? Three recent product announcements enable us to know more about things that we might not ever have thought to track in the past.
Fujitsu's Wandant dog pedometer tracks your pet's moves, uploads them to the cloud
There's a whole host of techy tools that will let you log your 10k personal best, and break down your splits into minute detail, but what about poor old Rover? Fujistu spotted this gap, and created Wandant -- a sensor-laden neck tag for dogs complete with cloud-based service for tracking your pooch's wellbeing. The hardware will log your pet's footsteps, amount of shivering plus temperature change, and upload it automatically via your smartphone or PC. The software will present you these data over time, with the option of manually inputting further details such as food amount, a diary with photos and -- for those with stronger constitutions -- stool condition. Like human-focused equivalents, there will also be provisions for sharing your dog's efforts, but thankfully only with vets and research institutions. There's no details on hardware pricing just yet, but the online component is free for the first year (JPY 420 / about $5 per month there after). Money no object for your mutt? Sadly only available in Japan for the time being, so you'll need to include a return ticket in that splurge too.
