[EAS] Fido Phone

Peter J. Kindlmann pjk at design.eng.yale.edu
Sun Dec 11 18:50:16 EST 2005


A suggestion for a belated Christmas present -- if you have a dog.
If you don't, just consider it another index of how technologies
evolve to support societal needs.

   --PJK

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(from INNOVATION, 7 December 2005)

FIDO PHONE
       Has the world gone barking mad?  Now there's a bone-shaped PetCell
phone that dangles off your dog's collar and allows you to converse with
Fido via two-way speaker. The PetCell works with standard cellular
networks, comes with its own phone number and is designed to automatically
pick up when the owner punches a code on their telephone keypad. A GPS
feature enables you to track your pet's wanderings and display its location
coordinates using any Web-enabled device or by dialing into a call center.
"When dogs disappear, it's the first 15 minutes that are the most
important," says a San Francisco dog trainer. "If your dog runs out of the
dog park and you don't see if he went left or right, (PetCell) would make
life a lot easier." The device will also come with an optional GeoFence
that signals the owner if the dog roams outside preset parameters and
built-in temperature sensors to check whether the dog is too hot or too
cold. PetsMobility, maker of the device, plans to launch the PetCell in
early 2006, priced at $350 to $400. (Wired.com 6 Dec 2005)
<http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,69756,00.html>




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