14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to wearable technology, we've mostly been focused on creating things that humans can use personally. But pets aren't getting by ignored.
In fact, at this year's CES (Consumer Electronics Show, 2015 Edition), Motorola introduced a special dog collar. Well, Binatone did, but Motorola made it.
The collar uses a platform called Hubble (no, not the telescope) to allow you to speak to your dog over the Internet if needed. You can also see video streamed from it, as well as record it in a cloud server. On-board WiFi and 3G are included, along with a wide-angle 720p resolution camera.
Video recording and voice over IP can only happen while the dog sits within certain boundaries you set for him or her of course.
But keeping them confined would be cruel, so Motorola also included a GPS function, as well as a geo-fence alert which will tell you when your pet has gone wandering.
Other features include a microphone and speaker, a year of Vodafone 3G data subscription included (in the UK) and a pedometer. No sense in not allowing the thing to act as a fitness tracker if you can do it.
The Smartcollar 5000 has a price of $200 / €170 and will be followed by a cheaper, smaller model called Scout 2500 (no camera, half the price), good for smaller dogs.