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Whistle nixes GPS to make a more affordable health tracker for dogs
Whistle has been making pet-tracking devices for years, first starting with a product often referred to as a "Fitbit for dogs" and then moving into GPS-enabled tracking devices to find lost pets. Last year, the company released its most advanced tracker yet, and now the company another new device specifically focused on your dog's health. The Whistle Fit is a collar-worn device, like the existing Whistle Go, but it doesn't have GPS built in. Instead, the company says it is meant to capture info about your dog's behavior and activity as an alternative to its GPS-enabled wearables.
Whistle Go Explore review: GPS-powered puppy protection
I'm happy to say that I've never come close to losing Ellie, my beloved nine-year-old chocolate Labrador. But that doesn't mean I haven't occasionally had a moment of panic thinking about how truly terrible that would be. For years, the default protection against such a scenario has been "microchipping" — implanting a tiny ID chip under a pet's skin that can be scanned to reveal contact information for the animal's owner. While this is still a smart thing to do, it's only useful after your pet has gotten away and has been rescued by someone who tries to reunite the animal with its person. There's a lot that can go wrong before that happens, if it ever does. Whistle has been working to offer a better solution for several years now. What originally started out as a "Fitbit for dogs" evolved into a GPS-enabled pet tracker that alerts you when your pet left a designated "safe" zone and lets you see where it is on a map. Last week, the company released its latest trackers, the Whistle Go and Go Explore, which features real-time location tracking, improved battery life and a few other tweaks to the Whistle formula. Ellie and I have been testing the $129.95 Go Explore for almost a month, and while it's not without quirks, it's still a potentially important safety net for any dog. On a day-to-day basis, its activity-tracking features aren't particularly necessary, which made it easy for me to think of it as an unnecessary gadget. On the other hand, if Ellie ran off, I'd be very glad she was wearing it.
Garmin's Astro 320 GPS handheld offers nine-mile coverage, keeps your hunting dogs in line
Before you and your pooches head out to hunt innocent ducks this year, you might wanna check out Garmin's new Astro 320 dog tracker -- a handheld GPS device designed to help hunters keep even closer tabs on their four-legged sentries. The latest addition to the Astro family can simultaneously track up to ten hunting dogs per receiver, with a revamped antenna and three-axis electronic compass covering up to nine miles of flat terrain. Boasting a 20-hour battery life, the 1.7GB handheld can also tell hunters whether their canines are running or pointing, while its mapping capabilities provide their precise coordinates relative to powerlines, buildings, and individual trees. All this information is displayed on a 2.6-inch display, where users will be able to access 100k or 24k topographic and satellite maps. A keypad lock function, meanwhile, will make sure you don't accidentally press any buttons while you're in the thick of a hound-led hunt. The handheld will be available in July for $500, with the full system (including a DC 40 tracking collar) priced at $650. You can flip through the gallery below for images of some antenna-toting doggies, or head past the break for a more testosterone-laced pic and the full PR. %Gallery-125121%
RoamEO GPS system tracks your pet
Apparently, keeping your pet indoors or ponying up for a fenced in a yard just isn't in style anymore, as the RoamEO GPS tracking system for pets joins the crowd of other locating devices, texting adornments, and inflatable collars that folks seem to prefer over the more traditional methods. This particular setup is geared to work on all roaming pets, but certainly has its limitations. While the GPS-enabled collar sends the exact location, movements, and velocity to your handheld tracking unit, your pet still turns MIA if it wanders more than a mile away. If you're fairly certain Fido isn't apt to stray all that far, you can setup a GPS fence that will send audible alerts if that perimeter is breached. This seems to be a decent system for multi-pet owners who have a tough time keeping things on a leash, as you can maintain a keen eye on three creatures simultaneously -- but it'll cost you $459 for the first one, and $149 for each additional collar. [Via The Raw Feed]
