Pets, A Sector Pampered By Mobile Technology

Does your dog exercise enough? Who will change your cat’s sand during your vacation? Do not worry, mobile technology entrepreneurs launch products connected to smartphones to ensure the welfare of your pet.

By AFP

Among the countless “wearable” devices presented this week at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, several companies offered devices to fix on collars of dogs or cats.

These devices allow owners to locate their pets, as well as know, for example, how much they have run, played or slept, thanks to an application on the smartphone.

Some devices allow to define in the application a safe area of the house for the pet and send an alert when it leaves that area.

Vodafone, the second mobile operator in the world, exhibited at the telephony fair its tracker called Kippy, available in Europe.

The water-resistant device is made of steel and works with a rechargeable battery that can last up to ten days. Operates with a SIM card and a monthly subscription of between 4 to 6 euros per month.

“It’s about having a closer relationship with your pet,” said Vodafone spokesman Steve Shepperson-Smith.

‘Incredibly lucrative segment’

The proliferation of mobile devices for pets coincides with a drop in sales of smartphones.

These fell by 4.1% in 2018, to 1.4 billion units, the second consecutive year of decline, due to the lower interest of people in renewing their devices in the absence of innovation, according to the IDC analysis cabinet.

“Assuming that almost every human being in Europe already has a phone, Vodafone has been smart in seeking to connect pets now,” said Ben Wood, an analyst of technology consultancy CCS Insight.

“The pet market is an incredibly lucrative segment that has grown continuously year after year,” he said.

The “wearable” pet market will exceed 8,000 million dollars in 2024, compared to the US $ 1,850 million in 2017, according to Global Market Insights.

“Almost everything that moves can use a ‘wearable.’ The ‘wearables’ for people are very popular, so it was logical that companies also target ‘wearable’ for pets,” said Neil Mawston, executive director of the cabinet. Strategy Analytics

Especially considering that about 300 million dogs and cats live in homes around the world, estimated Mawston.

“They are transferring the technology used for humans to pets,” he added.

Pet cameras

For those who feel sad to be separated from their pet, several companies have launched cameras with Wi-Fi that allow monitoring the animal on the smartphone.

One of the most popular, the Furbo, keeps treats for dogs inside and allows the owner to throw them with just press a button on the “smartphone”.

The device sends a message if the dog barks a lot and makes a 60-second video of the pet’s activities during the day.

The South Korean startup PurrSong unveiled the LavvieBot, a litter box for cats that is automatically cleaned and recharged.

After the cat makes his needs, the machine passes a rake and throws clean sand in the box. It even sends text messages when the container with the dirty sand must be emptied.

It also keeps a record of the weight of the cat and the number of times it uses the box, to detect possible health conditions.

“Any abnormality will be reported on your smartphone,” said PurrSong’s marketing manager, Heaven Nam.

“The owners do not have to cancel their travel plans or spend in hotels for cats if they need to travel,” he added.

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