Posts tagged Dogs at Switched

Posts with tag Dogs

Garmin DC 30 GPS Dog Collar Turns Hunting Into a Videogame

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jun 27th 2008 at 7:45AM

Here's one for the hunters. Strap the Garmin DC 30 collar onto your hunting dog, fire up your Astro 220 receiver, and you'll not only know where your dog is, but you'll also know if he is running, pointing, or treeing, even in dense cover.

Range is good for up to seven miles, and the tracking even covers the dog's direction so you can figure out where that delicious nubbin of turkey is hiding. The receiver can track up to 10 dogs at once, and the collar is good for 17-36 hours on one charge. The DC 30 is sold separately for $199.99 or for $649.99 as part of an Astro 220 combo, and should be available third-quarter 2008. [Source: PRNewswire]

Want to Clone Your Dog? Then Bid on This Auction...

by Will Safer, posted Jun 19th 2008 at 4:19PM

Is Fido on his last legs? Well, he may have a second chance, in a manner of speaking, as long as you're sure to collect a DNA sample.

BioArts International, a San Francisco-based firm, has announced it will auction off five slots for people who want clones produced of their dogs – plus one more slot for a lucky contest winner. Despite the lessons we all learned from Stephen King's 'Pet Sematery' (in which those animals who are resurrected come back evil), BioArts claims its dog clones will not only match their donor subjects in appearance, but also in personality.

We'll admit, we're simultaneously intrigued and creeped out (especially by all the weird "clone" images of old dogs and young dogs together on the BioArts site).

The "Best Friends Again" auction will commence July 5, with five separate bidding rounds running in succession. Winning bids will have 30 days to successfully collect and supply DNA from their dogs so BioArts can get to work. Now, before you get too excited, know this: Bids start at $100,000, so you'll need deep pockets to participate in the auction.

Also, no cats, you cat-people out there.

The BioArts project got its start back in 1998 after the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep was announced to the world the year before. An organization called Genetic Savings & Clone was established to collect the DNA of a dog named Missy, who was both beloved by her family and apparently advanced in age. The so-called Missyplicity project wasn't able to clone the dog before her death, but one of the participants, a South Korean scientist, eventually did clone a dog named Snuppy in 2006. One year later, clones of Missy were created and apparently they look and behave much as the original dog did, even down to the canine's odd preference for broccoli.

So, if you could clone your dog, would you? [Source: BestFriendsAgain.com, via KGO-San Francisco]

Click Here for a Strange Gallery of Cloned Fluorescent Cats

Honda Targeting Dog Lovers

by Terrence O'Brien, posted May 29th 2008 at 3:12PM

Since the dawn of marketing, companies have been targeting niche audiences to sell more products. Soccer moms, gamers, environmentalists, hipsters -- all have found themselves in the crosshairs of some company's marketing campaign or research and development team.

Now, Honda is trying to mine a burgeoning section of the populace in : dog lovers. The company has been aggressively courting canine aficionados with a website dedicated to finding the most dog-friendly Honda vehicle and allowing customers to test drive cars with their four-legged friends. Honda also unveiled the W.O.W. concept car a few years back with detachable, easy-to-clean seats, wooden floors, and a pop-up puppy crate in the back. In addition, the automaker launched the Freed minivan, which is low enough to the ground to let even small, arthritic dogs climb in.

Toyota is doing its best to compete with the Honda Dog website by launching its own pooch-friendly site. But Honda has a head start, and its Element SUV was voted most dog friendly car of 2007 by DogCars.com. [Source: Honda Dog via Reuters]

New Security System Interprets Guard Dog Barking

by Will Safer, posted May 22nd 2008 at 11:00AM

When a dog barks, do you know what it is saying – or at least trying to say?

A system designed by an Israeli tech firm is being employed by the Israel Prison Service to help guards understand when a guard dog's barking is "normal" and when the dog is stressed, which could mean that a dangerous situation is developing.

Guard dogs are often able to sense a developing situation well before people or automated systems recognize danger – but human guards often don't hear the dogs or ignore the barking until it is too late.

Watch a video demonstration here.

That's why the developers at Bio-Sense, a high-tech company near Tel Aviv, created the program to interpret dog barks. They recorded thousands of dog barks from a variety of situations, from playtime to cat encounters to real emergencies. They then analyzed the barking to differentiate between normal and emergency situations. Now they claim the system identifies when a dog senses a problem and when it is just, ahem, crying wolf.

This goes well beyond the the LED light that purportedly interprets what a dog's wagging tail means, although a group of Hungarian scientists have developed a fairly complex program to interpret the language of the Mudi herding breed. The Hungarian system does not appear to be used by anyone yet for practical purposes.

The system from Bio-Sense, however, is in place with more than 100 clients in Israel, from prisons that want to prevent jail breaks to farmers who are trying to prevent theft. [Source: USA Today.]

LED Gadget Translates Your Dog's Tail Wags

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 7:41PM

We've seen toys that claim to decifer dog barks (and even fancy computers that can decode the barks of a particular breed of dog better than humans can), but we still haven't seen a big glowing sign that spells out what your dog is trying to say -- until now.

Okay, truth be told, you still won't, at least not at home, unless you run to New York's MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) for a demo at the Elastic Mind exhibit, since this device is just a concept.

The proposed device would attach to the dog's tail, measure his or her WPM (Wags Per Minute) and use that to figure out what he/she is trying to say. It would then spell out your canine's message in LED lights in mid air as the your dogs tail wags, turning it into a tacky novelty message board.

From Engadget

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PetCell, the Mobile Phone for Dogs

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 11th 2007 at 10:32AM

If you're prone to losing your dog or have a Barbara-Walters-like ability to communicate with your pooch, you may want to pick up the PetCell, which is exactly what it sounds like -- a cell phone for your pet. Our dogs' conversation skills tend to be a little lackluster, so the calling feature seems a little pointless for anything beyond a a laugh.

That said, dogs do have a tendency to wander off and get lost, which is where the device's built-in GPS features come in handy. Like Verizon Wireless's Migo phone with Chaperone Service for keeping track of your kids, PetCell's GPS capability lets you track Fido's movements, as well as build electronic borders for he or she to stay in -- if your pet steps outside of a predesignated zone, you'll get an automatic alert in the form of a text message or e-mail to your phone or computer.

And get this --the phone can also be programed to only accept calls from specific numbers so that telemarketers can't convince the poor pooch to subscribe to US Weekly. Did we mention it's also waterproof?

Besides the GPS capability, the device is fairly pointless, particularly when you factor in the outrageous $500 price tag before you add a service plan. For that money, we wonder why PetCell doesn't have media playback capabilities and a multi-touch screen.

Of course, pet gadgets -- useful or otherwise -- are always good for a laugh, so here are a few others that made us smile:

From Sci-Fi Tech

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Fido's Dog Tag Goes High Tech

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 9th 2007 at 11:01AM

Is that engraved, dog bone-shaped tag dangling from your pooch's collar a little too low-tech for ya? You're not alone. A company called eTags has developed a more high-tech option dubbed the Dog-e-Tag. It's a $30-$40 electronic tag that includes a four-line LCD screen that you can program with your pet's name and your phone number. But, with up to 40 lines of information available to scroll through, you can also stack it up with your street address, e-mail, any medical problems your pet has and whatever else you feel like punching in ... your pooch's preference for Evian, perhaps? The tag is water-proof, shock-proof, cold-proof, and comes in six different colors. Battery life is rated at two years and, when it dies, you can pop in a new battery on your own. Take that iPhone!

From OhGizmo!

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Truth About Cats and Dogs (and Photos)

by Evan Shamoon, posted Apr 18th 2007 at 5:27PM

If you've been using the Internet lately, you've surely come across pictures of cats in various states of preposterousness. But how do the photographers coax such absurdity out of their pets? Not easily. As anyone who has tried to snap photos of their cat wearing a hollowed-out grapefruit half on his or her head can surely understand, furry creatures can be just as difficult on the runway as a model who hasn't eaten a full meal in six weeks.

The editors at PC World have come to the rescue, fortunately, with a some advice on how to more effectively capture your pet on film. The tips range from the obvious (put them at ease) to the slightly technical (set your camera to Shutter Priority to prevent those quick-moving pets from becoming a total blur), and overall should help you seize your four-legged companion's cuteness for the world to see.

One thing they fail to mention: Bribery (steak, tuna fish, nachos) goes a long way.

From PC World

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Garmin DC 30 GPS Dog Collar Turns Hunting Into a Videogame

Want to Clone Your Dog? Then Bid on This Auction...

Honda Targeting Dog Lovers

New Security System Interprets Guard Dog Barking

LED Gadget Translates Your Dog's Tail Wags

PetCell, the Mobile Phone for Dogs

Fido's Dog Tag Goes High Tech

Truth About Cats and Dogs (and Photos)

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