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Pet IoT Handbook Image

Pet IoT Handbook

Filter and compare "Smart" wireless devices for your pet. WiFi collar, feeder, play toys, and activity/environment tracker for your dog, cat and aquarium.

The recent explosion of wearable tech isn’t just about humans anymore. The market for smart, connected pet collars is taking off as technology gives people new ways to find, monitor and connect with their furry friends. We’ve done our best sheepdog impression and rounded up as many different breeds of pet wearables and connected devices as we could find.

11/01/2019

Activity-Location Trackers // Feeders // Toys & Monitoring


Activity / GPS Location Trackers

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Fitbark

FitBark takes a simple approach to canine fitness, using an accelerometer to track and analyze your dog’s activity. It connects with a mobile device over Bluetooth, and families can enable multiple devices -- which also act as “safe zones,” so that everyone receives a notification if the dog wanders out of range of the nearest family member. An optional base station can also provide a safe zone at home while everyone is out, and will upload data by WiFi. Unfortunately, there’s no GPS on the device, so if you want to actually be able to find a wayward pup, you’ll be better off with a different product.

Price: $69 preorder ($99 expected retail)
Apps: Android, Apple
Battery: Internal, up to 14 days per charge
Connectivity: Bluetooth

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Pip

Pip, named for the creator’s dog, uses a combination of connectivity technologies to track a pet’s location and activities while achieving stellar battery life. The key is using Bluetooth LE to establish “safe zones” in which the cellular and GPS connections are kept off by default to save energy. The main safe zone is defined by proximity to the base station, which doubles as a charging dock, but Pip can pair with any Bluetooth device to create roaming safe zones around family members’ phones, tablets, smartwatches and other accessories.

If the fuzzy little rascal makes a break for it, Pip will sense the loss of the Bluetooth connection and activate its GPS and cellular signals, so owners can get turn-by-turn directions to recover their pet. Pip also uses an internal accelerometer to detect activity levels, which it uses to dynamically adjust signal frequency and squeeze even more juice out of the battery.

The designers at PetSimpl hope to create a suite of smart pet devices that can interact with Pip, such as smart pet doors and food dispensers. Just bigger than a quarter, Pip is weather-sealed and small enough to be worn by cats and small dogs as well as larger creatures.

Price: $249 (expected retail), plus monthly or lifetime cellular connection fees (TBD)
Apps: Browser, Android
Battery: Internal, up to 90 days per charge
Connectivity: Bluetooth Low-Energy, Cellular, GPS
Additional: Kickstarter campaign

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Tagg

 

The Tagg collar includes sensors to track your dog’s location, activity, and temperature. The charging dock acts as a base station, communicating with the collar over short-range radio frequencies to conserve battery life while your dog is at home. Outside of that “safe zone,” GPS and cellular connections activate to help you find your missing pet.

The accelerometer-based fitness app helps ensure that Fido gets his exercise, and Tagg’s thermometer will send out a mobile alert if it detects extreme temperatures -- like if the pooch is trapped in the backseat of a car on a hot day, or left outside on a cold winter’s night.

Tagg is waterproof, fits any collar or harness, and is small and lightweight enough that even birds can wear it -- Auburn University uses Tagg to keep track of the eagles that serve as the school’s mascots.

Price: $119.95, plus $9.95/month cellular connection fees
Apps: Apple, Android
Battery: Internal, up to 14 days per charge
Connectivity
: Short-range Radio (900Mhz), Cellular, GPS
Additional: Support
Reviews: PC Mag 4/5, Amazon 3.5/5 (1000 reviews), Petco 7/10, Laptop Mag 4/5

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Voyce

Voyce is an activity tracker that’s closely focused on your dog’s health. In addition to monitoring activity levels, sensors in the collar measure heart rate and breathing patterns. The data syncs over WiFi and can be accessed through mobile or web apps. With a number of vets and pet wellness experts acting as advisors, the company behind Voyce plans to offer customers detailed analysis of their dogs’ health, support for training, and other premium content -- for a monthly or annual fee, of course. The waterproof collar will come in sizes to fit necks between 12 and 32 inches.

Price: TBD, will include subscription fees
Apps: Apple, Android
Battery: Internal, up to 7 days per charge
Connectivity
: WiFi

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WhistleGPS

 

A location-aware update to the Whistle Activity Tracker, WhistleGPS plans to make use of forthcoming advances in sub-Ghz cellular networks like those deployed recently in many European cities by Sigfox. Those technologies provide long-range, low-power signals ideal for devices that need to share small amounts of data, but are not yet widespread in the U.S.

Like its predecessor device, the GPS version of Whistle is rugged, waterproof, and fits on any collar (it’s about the size of an Oreo). With a combination of accelerometer data and software, it will monitor your dog’s daily activities and help schedule food, medication and playtime to ensure a healthy, active canine lifestyle. Through the app, users can share photos, notes and fitness data with family, friends, and even Fido’s vet.

The company hopes to get WhistleGPS to market in 2015, but that will depend on the development of the sub-Ghz networks over which it’s designed to connect. Presumably, that means availability will be limited to customers in certain cities -- like San Francisco, where Sigfox has been rolling out its technology in recent months as it prepares to expand to other U.S. markets.

Price: $129(expected retail), plus $5/month sub-Ghz cellular connection fees
Battery: Internal, up to 7 days per charge
Connectivity
: Bluetooth, WiFi, Sub-Ghz Cellular, GPS
Reviews:
- Activity Tracker: Brookstone 4/5, Amazon 4.5/5 (140 reviews), Techcrunch, PCWorld 4/5

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Wuf

 

Wüf’s vision is that a smart dog collar should actually make you and your dog smarter. In addition to location tracking via GPS and cellular in the event of a yard break-out, Wüf offers hardware and software features that can integrate into training your pup and give you greater insight into its behavior.

The secret is two-way feedback, enabled by a speaker and microphone as well as vibration capability. Wüf’s designers claim the app will send an alert if the dog is barking, whimpering or growling a lot in your absence, and you can speak back to it from afar using a speaker. The vibration function can be used like a gentler shock collar to reinforce commands -- the designers say it can even enable an “invisible leash” that will automatically buzz and deliver vocal commands if your dog wanders beyond a set perimeter away from you.

Wüf comes in three sizes that should accommodate most dog breeds, and is bite- and water-proof. Customers will receive a $10 credit towards pay-as-you-go cellular data charges for GPS tracking, which is only triggered when the dog leaves a designated area. Wüf will also offer premium app features and always-on cellular data for a small monthly fee.

Price: $99+ on Kickstarter, plus pay-as-you-go cellular connection fees OR monthly fees for premium features and always-on cellular data (TBD)
Battery: Internal, up to 5 days per charge
Connectivity
: Bluetooth, Cellular, GPS
Additional: Kickstarter

Feeders

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PetNet

Price: $249.99

Description: "SmartFeeder takes the guesswork out of feeding your pet.

Remote Feeding
: Control your pet’s feeding from your laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Adjust feeding schedule in real-time, from anywhere.
Automated Schedules: Manage feeding times, portion sizes, and food dispensing speed – all tailored specifically for your pet’s needs.
Alerts and Notifications: Receive notifications on your smartphone about feeding times, meal confirmations, food inventory, and battery life."

Apps:
Apple, Browser
Connectivity
: Wifi
Multiple pet support: no

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Feed and Go

Price: $199.95

Description: "Welcome to the Feed and Go Feeder, the device that lets you feed and watch your pets from anywhere! Feed and Go is unlike any other pet feeder. With a voice recording system to record your own personal message for feeding time, a built in webcam so you can see your pet while you’re away from home, Wi-Fi connectivity for placement anywhere in the home, 6 eight oz cup sized food trays for dry and wet food, an easy cleaning removable feeding tray, sleek eye friendly modern design, and the ability to control any number of Feed and Go feeders from one login on any computer, tablet or smartphone, you won’t need anything else."

Apps:
Browser
Connectivity
: Wifi
Multiple pet support: no

Toys / Monitoring

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PetCube

Price: $199 (preordering)
Apps: Apple, Android (Coming Soon)

Description: "The Petcube Camera is the first product that allows pet owners to watch, talk and play with their pet from their smartphone, no matter where they are.. 138° degree wide angle camera streaming HD 720p video. Watch, talk and play laser games with your furry friends through the mobile app anytime, anywhere."

Connectivity
: WiFi
Additional: Kickstarter, Video

Additional:


Additional Resouces

Cat Focused Products: