Things are looking pretty doggone good for the folks behind FitBark. Although it’s been some time since we last checked in with the development team behind dog-focused activity tracker, it appears as though its latest product is finally set to arrive next month.
Showcased at CES 2015, the company’s tracker works much like the latest fitness products from the likes of FitBit and Jawbone. The small device attaches to your dog’s collar and track his or her daily activity levels, allowing you to view the amount of rest, activity, and play time your pet has engaged in over the course of the week. Once paired with your iOS or Android device, the tracker feeds info to an accompanying app, providing you with quick review of you dog’s workout regime at a glance.
The tech housed inside the device’s plastic casing is nothing short of ordinary. It weighs a mere eight grams and touts a 3-axis accelerometer. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery is designed to last two weeks on a single charge. It also features a waterproof rating of IPX7, meaning it can be submerged for up to 30 minutes in less than one meter of water, so you need not worry if your furry pal opts for an unexpected dip.
The FitBark and bundled mobile app does more than just let you track if your dog has been lounging on the couch all day, though. It supports a unique component that lets you quickly compare your dog’s baseline fitness to others of the same breed, while touting a simple social function for sharing photos of your animal with those in your network. The daily summaries allow you to keep an eye on developing trends in case of an unwanted visit to the vet, while allowing you to keep an eye on your local pet sitter without implementing over-the-top surveillance measures that might make you appear crazy.
The FitBark is currently available for pre-order on the company’s website for a cool $99. Furthermore, FitBark also offers a Wi-Fi base station that connects to your home network and relays your pet’s data to your smartphone when you’re not present — you know, just in case you don’t trust that high school sitter you hired. Boyfriends can be distracting.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.