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Bissell BarkBath

A clean dog isn’t just a happy dog — they’re also welcome in almost anyone’s home. This compact cleaning system lets you bathe your dog on the go and doubles as a portable carpet and upholstered furniture cleaner. Its one-of-a-kind spray nozzle gently reaches deep down to the dog’s skin and deposits the dirty water into a separate tank. For $200, you can easily keep your dog and home clean without bulky equipment or frequent trips to the groomer’s.

Fi Smart Dog Collar

No more fretting over where your dog is when they decide to explore the world explore outside your yard. The lustrous Fi Smart Dog Collar tracks their location with a real-time GPS and reports the data back to you on your smartphone. It also tracks how many steps they take and their total exercise time to monitor their fitness. The collar is $149, and the additional $99 annual subscription fee is a small price to pay for the serenity of knowing your pooch’s whereabouts.

Mighty Paw Smart Bell 2.0

With a minimal amount of training, the Mighty Paw Smart Bell 2.0 lets your dog alert you to their need to go outside and take care of business. Priced between $30 and $40, the system is wireless and needs no batteries, with a customizable ringtone that’s activated by the simple touch of your pet’s paw.

PetChatz Interactive Pet Camera

You don’t have to be Dr. Dolittle to talk to your pet. Thanks to this nifty invention, you can now have two-way calls anytime you’re away from home, and even toss them “treats” or calm them with light bursts and therapeutic scents. The basic system costs around $350, but for a bit more, you can add on “PawCall” buttons that let your pet reach out to you from afar.

Petcube Bites 2 Smart Pet Camera

If you just want to keep tabs on your pet’s secret life when you’re not home, Petcube Bites 2 Smart Pet Camera is the perfect gadget for you. You can reward good behavior with a virtual treat or talk to them with the two-way audio feature. Even better, this system is a little cheaper than others at just $249.

PetSafe Smart Feeder

With the PetSafe Smart Feeder, you’ll never have to feel guilty about not being home to feed your dog on time. Instead, a simple phone app lets you set up an automatic feeding schedule. Set it to dispense an eighth to four full cups of food, or use the “Slow Feed” option to dispense a preset amount of chow over a 15-minute span.

SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder

No more food pilfering between your dog and cat thanks to the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. Using microchips, the food inside is only accessible to the right pet when they approach their respective dish. No worries if your pet isn’t microchipped, either: you can also use ID tags on their collars to activate access. At a price of around $150, you can make sure each and every pet gets the proper nutrition every day of the week.

SureFlap Microchip Pet Door

Instead of making repeated trips to the door to let your pet in an out, simplify life for a meager investment of $85. The SureFlap Microchip Pet Door reads a microchip or programmable collar to let the pet in and out without concerns about strays or wildlife getting inside. You can also set up pre-selected times for the doggy door to automatically be locked or unlocked from the outside.

VARRAM Pet Fitness Robot

No more lazy pets that sleep all day while you’re away. The VARRAM Pet Fitness Robot plays with your pet using 16 preset frolicking moves that carefully avoid obstacles throughout your home. The $100 price tag includes a program that monitors your pup’s activity and advises on changes you can make to further improve their health.

Whistle FIT Pet Health Tracker

Finally, this Fitbit-like gadget tells you if your dog is getting the proper amount of exercise based on its breed, weight, and age. Set incremental goals and adjust food amounts to match their activity patterns and keep them at the peak of good health. The tracker costs $80, plus an annual subscription fee of $35.

The post 10 Cool Trinkets and Toys That Will Make Your Dog’s Day first appeared on Dornob.

Google has a novel solution: an Android phone-powered earthquake alert system. Most of us are already carrying potential sensors in our pockets, making the general population a big untapped resource for detecting potential earthquakes as they happen. That’s because the accelerometers in our smartphones, paired with location data, are sensitive enough to detect the P-wave: which is the first wave that comes out of an earthquake and usually much less destructive than the S-wave that follows.

“If the phone detects something that it thinks may be an earthquake, it sends a signal to our earthquake detection server, along with a coarse location of where the shaking occurred. The server then combines information from many phones to figure out if an earthquake is happening. We’re essentially racing the speed of light (which is roughly the speed at which signals from a phone travel) against the speed of an earthquake. And lucky for us, the speed of light is much faster!”

Because the technology already exists in our phones, all Google had to do to activate it was build earthquake detection into the operating system. WHen it’s up and running, the Android Earthquake Alerts System will become “the world’s largest earthquake detection network,” giving users a minute or so of warning before the quake hits. That may not sound like much, but it could be all you need to get out of a high-risk location, get to your children from across the yard, or find the sturdiest furniture in your house to hide under.

Distributed through Google Play Services for every Android phone running 5.0 and up, it’s now active on 94 percent of 2.5 billion Google Play Android devices. All you have to do to use it is turn on the Google Location Services switch in the Android settings.

In California, this feature will work with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to send the alerts via the existing ShakeAlert system, which traditionally uses signals from more than 700 seismometers installed across the state. That means all Android users in the state will soon become millions of new sensors providing data and receiving alerts.

In other places that don’t have sophisticated ground networks of seismometers, the system will act as an earthquake watch system. “To start, we’ll use this technology to share a fast, accurate view of the impacted area on Google Search. When you look up ‘earthquake’ or ‘earthquake near me,’ you’ll find relevant results for your area, along with helpful resources on what to do after an earthquake.”

Feeling left out as an iPhone user? Make sure you’ve turned on emergency and government alerts under Settings > Notifications. ShakeAlert is continuing to expand with new partners in states like Oregon and Washington, and maybe Apple will jump in with a similar system of its own sometime soon.

The post Google is Turning Android Phones Into a Global Earthquake Detection Network first appeared on Dornob.

Car enthusiasts have been waiting on the edge of their seats for the new Porsche Taycan. Despite it being out of reach financially for most at a starting price of $150,000, the dream is far from dead. While many just want to sit behind the wheel, hear the roar of 750 horsepower, and feel the muscle of 774 pounds of torque, others are equally as enthralled by the fantastic technology inside the car, much of which is based on the 911 and Panamera trims but packs a much bigger punch.

Dashboard Dazzlers

The gracefully arched dashboard from the Mission E model will be mostly replicated in the Taycan, though it will be the first Porsche panel with no mechanical gauges whatsoever. Just use the touch-responsive buttons on the outer edges to control stability, dampers, headlights, etc. You can also personalize each function to best fit your needs. For instance, in the car’s full-screen navigation window, you can opt for highly informational satellite data or stick with basics on navigation, speed, and traffic signs.

Just below the dashboard display is Porsche’s first push button ignition switch. The undersized shifter is on the opposite end of this panel, comparable to the 911 set up, but the Taycan version protrudes straight out instead of upright.

Multi-Plex Screens

The Taycan dashboard boasts three screens, including one in front of the passenger front seat. The 10.9-inch center screen includes Porsche’s most recent MIB 3 user interface software for easy navigation of the infotainment features, including Apple Music, which can be fully integrated with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The system also has a voice-interactive digital assistant similar to Alexa and Siri. Whenever Porsche releases a product or software update, you’ll receive a notification right there on the center screen.

Directly beneath the Taycan’s infotainment screen is an 8.4-inch touchscreen with a permanent list of entertainment shortcuts, as well as temperature controls, a track pad, and an assortment of other controls for driving, parking, and broadcast volume. The track pad is tactile and responds to finger gestures such as drawing and spelling.

The third and most innovative screen feature is the optional one facing the passenger front seat, which is roughly the same size as the infotainment screen. It lets the passenger help navigate, scan music options, or search for destinations such as restaurants and lodgings without interfering with the driver’s activities. The third screen is also fully functional while the car is being driven, unlike the driver screen, which has limits in place for safe and undistracted operation of the vehicle.

Extra Perks

The Taycan has a few more extras that make it unique. The ventilation system is adjustable to blow in almost any angle, and the settings are actually tied to the car key, so they’ll automatically switch to your preferred temperature each and every time. Models with the optional four-zone climate system have electronically operated vents in the back seat, too, as well as a touchscreen for operation in between the two front seats. Drivers can choose the best seating position for their ride from Normal, Comfort, and Sport modes. Oh, and the car also comes standard with two full-sizes cup holders — something lacking and desperately needed in the 911.

The post The New Porsche Taycan is a Treasure Trove of Technology first appeared on Dornob.

Yes, the foam — which is similar in composition to the fire retardant used in handheld fire extinguishers — has been significantly improved since it was invented in 1902. And the axe that we see the firefighters carrying, dubbed “Pulaski,” was updated with an elongated handle after an ergonomic study helped its designers better understand how to reduce fatigue. Still, significantly newer technologies like satellite imaging have yet to be implemented successfully.

There are a few reasons that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) seems so slow to introduce truly sophisticated technology. For starters, planning requires extensive collaboration between members of Congress, forest management, and eye witnesses on the ground. Congressional-level efforts to allocate more money to technology are already underway, as more money is consumed by the increasing severity of the state’s wildfires. Ralph Gonzales, the Fire and Aviation Portfolio Manager at the U.S. Forest Service’s Technology and Development program in San Dimas, California, also explains that the state doesn’t “want to introduce unintended consequences.”

So while many elements found in the following technologies are not brand new, what is new is the concept of bundling them together for use in firefighting, with a focus on early detection, mapping, and improved helicopter performance.

FUEGO: Early Detection of Wildfires from Space

FUEGO is a collaboration between UC Berkeley (led by Carl Pennypacker, an astrophysicist at the Lawrence National Berkeley Laboratory) and Fireball, a Reno-based company headed by CEO Tim Ball, who himself boasts almost a decade of firefighting experience and a doctorate from Stanford.

The project’s crowdfunding page reads: “Using modern digital technology, FUEGO [Fire Urgency Estimator in Geosynchronous Orbit] will utilize platforms at various altitudes to detect wildland fires very early, measure wildland fires with high precision and specificity, and then feed such results into modern fire simulation programs.” While the system is still being developed, the team envisions something along the lines of geosynchronous satellites and aerial drones integrated with existing piloted aircraft and fire towers. Sensors and infrared cameras would aid in spotting wildfires before they became too difficult to control.

Currently, wildfires are most commonly reported by witnesses on the ground, and less often by airplanes or weather satellites. Pennypacker says that the usual half-hour response time could be cut down to two minutes or less with FUEGO. Before that can happen, however, funding will have to be procured for the up-to $300 million satellite needed for the system. The team has even started entertaining the idea of a partnership with the US Defense Department, which already uses similar satellites.

Collector: A Geographic Information System Mapping App

Collector is an app developed by Esri, a company that specializes in information management. With a user-friendly interface that takes advantage of the built-in GPS hardware we all have on our smartphones and tablets, the app allows firefighters to download maps and work offline. As soon as they have cell service, their data is uploaded. They are then able to see a fire’s size and location, as well as any structures and roads in its vicinity.

Collector runs off the GIS (Geographic Information System): a multi-layered approach that efficiently stores and analyzes spatial data. The system allows firefighters to measure the acreage of affected areas, share photos, get directions, and track containment progress.

The hope here is that GIS tools like Collector could eventually replace radio communication for both aircraft and ground crews. Lisa Elenz, the Assistant Director of Capabilities, Development, and Integration for the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management Division, explained: “We’re trying to expand our ability to access information off-aircraft, download it while they’re still in the air, store it, and make it searchable for analysis and documentation. We want to improve situational awareness so we have better information for line officers, decision makers, and crews on the ground.” Cal Fire has been using the app since 2014 to help map wildfire damage.

Black Hawk “Firehawk” Helicopters Carry More Firefighters and Water

In the summer of 2018, the City of San Diego’s Fire-Rescue Department received an S-70 Black Hawk helicopter from the Lockheed Martin company Sikorsky. LA County Fire Department has also started replacing their aging, Vietnam-era “Super Huey” helicopters with Black Hawks.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Air Operations Chief Chuck Macfarland states: “Never before has the City of San Diego operated as large and as powerful a helicopter as the Black Hawk, which can accurately place almost three times more water on a wildland fire in a single drop than our current fleet. By hitting wildland fires aggressively in their initial stage, we will be able to keep fires small.” The Black Hawk, now dubbed the Firehawk, can carry up to 11 firefighters and all of their gear. The aircraft boasts an 1,000-gallon (8,000-pound) belly tank, extended landing gear and rescue hoist, and a retractable snorkel. In comparison, the existing fleet of Super Huey helicopters can carry just eight firefighters and about 360 gallons of water or foam. Among other functions, the aircraft’s digital cockpit allows for precision hover, and its digital moving map is able to pinpoint precise location and destination. It’s easy to see why adoption of this particular technology is so attractive to fire departments.

“We’ve got a new dynamic in the landscape,” says Edward Struzik, author of Firestorm: How Wildfires Will Shape Our Future. “We’ve got heat drying up the forests, extending droughts, providing more fuel for ignition. The heat drives winds like the Santa Anas even harder than in the past.” The Forest Service currently has 80 people doing research and development, much of which focuses on the incorporation of new technologies. Here’s hoping these innovative measures provide at least a little relief to the increasing intensity of California’s wildfires.

The post New Technology in the Works to Fight Wildfires first appeared on Dornob.

Mapillary, yet another Swedish outfit, wants to see all the signs — and make an even bigger global impact. Their goal is to map the world by crowdsourcing images of street signs and inputting them into a central database. Amazon is even collaborating with them on the project, using their Rekognition API to go through that database.

Although the exact relationship between the two companies is still unclear, the thought of them working together is still exciting. Anyone who has ever used Google Street View to scope out parking in an unfamiliar area only to be met with a blurry image of a sign understands what they’re trying to do: repackage information like that with more detail and make it easier to interpet.

Too often, the information on parking signs is so convoluted that you have to read it three times just to understand if and when you can park. Mapillary wants to remove the confusion by converting this analog knowledge into digital data for use by the public. INRIX, a traffic analysis tech firm, has already used it to determine that Americans spend over $20 billion a year overpaying for parking, and that sum doesn’t even include the gas spent driving around when you’re looking for it.

Then there’s the issue of pictograms, which are supposed to be understood by everyone but can sometimes come off as ambiguous. When you see a sign depicting a man with a lightning bolt going through his body, you know that it means danger because of high voltage from electricity, but where exactly that electricity is coming from is still unclear. There are also those temporary construction signs offering alternative routes that sometimes make no sense at all. In these cases, Mapillary hopes to better explain what the sign is supposed to express. Even tourists are using Mapillary to read signs in languages they cannot speak through a type of instantaneous translation.

With autonomous vehicles becoming increasingly prevalent on our roads, the information collected by companies like Mapillary will be especially useful. Even in places where Google is unlikely to send their Street View car down every road, such as parts of rural America or small countries like Barbados, Mapillary is still crowdscoursing images of signs. Today, their database contains almost 400 million images. In the long term, the company plans to see all the world’s signs and open all of our minds about the ways we can more efficiently use our cities.

The post What the New Mapillary and Amazon Collaboration Means For You first appeared on Dornob.

“Before Chris Sheldrick co-founded what3words, he worked as production manager organizing live music events in different parts of the world,” explains what3words Chief Marketing Officer Giles Rhys Jones. “Getting sound equipment, personnel, and bands to a certain mountainside or in the middle of the countryside were challenging.” what3words was born out of this frustration. The first company to use the system was the Mongolian postal service (Mongol Post). Since then, mail services in Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, St. Maarten, Djibouti, and Tonga have also taken it up.

To truly understand the benefits of three-word addresses over standard street addresses, consider the job of a parcel delivery driver anywhere in the world. The driver begins their shift with a map of all the deliveries that need to be completed within a given timeframe. All the driver has are the street addresses, which should ensure that the buildings can be found.

Even if the driver has the right address and finds the building, however, the exact location of the recipient is still unknown to them. They might even have an office or suite number, but they’ll still have to figure out where the recipient is. With three-word addresses, the driver could know exactly where in the building the recipient was expecting their parcel. Without the three-word addresses, consider the amount of phone calls that would need to be made throughout the day between the driver and the recipient just to find the right meeting place.

“We just did a test in London with a delivery company, where we gave two couriers 20 packages each: 20 with street addresses on them and 20 with three-word addresses,” explains Jones. “Now the courier with three-word addresses was 30 percent faster. He was three and a half hours faster than the other guy. If you think about that, that’s one vehicle off the road for three and a half hours. So all of a sudden you can dramatically reduce pollution, congestion, just by being 200, 30, 50 yards more accurate than an address.”
Parcel delivery is just one of many industries that are starting to use what3words to enhance their effectiveness. Onibag, a delivery company based in Menlo Park, California, uses what3words to make same-day deliveries of medical supplies, organs, blood, and other perishable items to hospitals. Knowing exactly where to take such items as fast as possible is essential when the health of a patient depends on it.
On the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten, where not all houses have standard street addresses, Domino’s Pizza uses what3words to make deliveries. The company prints three-word addresses onto their receipts, and the delivery driver uses the accompanying app to navigate to that spot.

In the modeling and entertainment industries, photographers and filmmakers use three-word addresses to find specific locations in secluded areas. For example, if there was a scene in a television show or movie in a remote part of Australia and a filmmaker wanted to shoot part of an upcoming project in the same location, it would be difficult to find without a three-word address. Adventure seekers and travelers looking for the same location to hike or mountain climb benefit from it, too.

When a natural disaster leaves destruction in its wake, aid organizations use what3words to locate and rescue stranded survivors. After the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that rattled Mexico City back in September of this year, for instance, both the Government of Mexico and humanitarian groups used what3words to find people trapped in ruined buildings. Another aspect of what3words that makes it so effective in disaster zones is that it works without internet service. Once you download the map to your device, you can use what3words anywhere, whereas the GPS on smartphones requires cell reception, data, and internet (all of which may be out of service after an earthquake or typhoon strikes).

With all the ways that three-word addresses have helped individuals, companies, and organizations find their way around, Jones believes that the need for them will only increase over time as people continue to discover how unreliable street addresses can be.
“Urban mobility is a massive challenge. Currently, 50 percent of people who live in cities in the developing world don’t have a street address. Even in cities like LA and London, addressing is poor. With the huge migration of people to cities by the year 2030, 70 percent of the world’s population will be in urban centers. So we’re piling people on an address infrastructure that doesn’t work today.” It’s no wonder finding a place can be harder than you think.

The post Why Finding A Place Can Be Harder Than You Think first appeared on Dornob.

Gotoky is an advanced off-the-grid communication device that allows your smartphone to receive signal in the world’s most remote destinations. The device can even be used during natural or man-made disasters, helping to ensure the safety of those affected by allowing them to contact emergency services and loved ones in the face of potential danger. In a bid to create a safer and more connected world, Gotoky has been developed with compassion and concern for humankind, utilizing our collective advancements in technology to enhance our day-to-day experiences.

Besides promoting the safety of its users, Gotoky also benefits them by allowing them to keep those pennies in their pockets when using their smartphones abroad. More specifically, your phone can create its own network coverage with Gotoky to avoid excessive communications costs when traveling, meaning won’t be charged a ridiculous fee for those crucial phone calls and messages.

How Does It Work?

Gotoky functions by creating a (personal) mesh network in parts of the world where traditional service is either unattainable or too expensive. Once paired with a smartphone, the Gotoky provides you with coverage and enables you to send texts, make calls, use GPS, activate an “Emergency Location Beacon” when in distress, send GPS coordinates to other Gotoky users, use real-time tracking, create events, and ping locations.

Working over standard license-free radio frequencies, Gotoky eliminates your reliance on cellular infrastructure or satellites, meaning it can automatically relay messages to other Gotoky devices in the area. This range can be extended from point to point, allowing users to create their own network with up to 19 miles of coverage.

It’s the ideal device for outdoor enthusiasts, travelers, and professionals working in remote or potentially dangerous locations. Gotoky communication is free, reliable, secure, and accessible, keeping you connected with the planet without those exorbitant roaming charges.

Who Created Gotoky?

Co-founder and CEO Denis Loncar developed Gotoky in response to a personal crisis: while hiking in the mountains, he injured himself and was unable to call for help due to the poor signal on his mobile phone. Loncar was extremely lucky and eventually rescued, but only by chance, as another group of hikers happened to pass by him. After discovering him, they made sure he was safe and properly looked after.

As a result of this eye-opening experience, Loncar and co-founder Katja Lipicnik worked on bringing Gotoky to life. In times of need where danger or risk is involved, a user can now access that necessary help. It’ll probably even end up saving lives. In the recent events in the US following the devastation caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Nate, during which communications were unresponsive for days, the people could have greatly benefited from the Gotoky, as it would have assisted them in ensuring their well-being and personal safety.

How Can I Get One?

Head over the Gotoky’s Kickstarter page and make a donation (no matter how large or small) to get involved in the production and launch of this nifty gadget. It’s definitely a pledge worth making!

The post Gotoky: Off-Grid Phone Coverage Anytime, Anywhere first appeared on Dornob.

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The bureaucratic pain involved in recreating that original wallet led to the extremely versatile Volterman, which, among other things, boasts a built-in alarm system so you can find it when you’ve left it behind in a restaurant. When you move out of range, a helpful warning message will be sent to your phone. If it’s your phone you’ve misplaced, on the other hand, and you can’t find it in its usual hiding place behind the couch cushions, don’t panic. Just push a button on the wallet and listen for the ringing, which it will do even if it’s on silent mode.

The Volterman will also alert you when a sticky-fingered pickpocket has their grubby paws on it. This feature is especially useful to anyone traveling outside the country, where a wallet’s contents can’t just be replaced on the fly. The smart wallet has even been equipped with a clever theft-detection camera. When the Volterman is in “Lost” mode, it’ll take a photo of anyone who opens it and email you a copy of their mug. If a thief tries to electronically steal your data or identity, they’ll be met by the smart wallet’s built-in RFID-blocking system. Ingenious!

Small but mighty, the Volterman has also been fitted with an embedded power bank, which allows you to charge your devices on-the-go either wirelessly or with a hidden cable. That means no more fumbling for chargers and searching hopefully-yet-frantically for a free outlet to use. The wallet also features GPS tracking and Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities, keeping you connected no matter where you are in the world. Say goodbye to exorbitant roaming charges.

There are three siblings in the Volterman family, and we have a feeling you’ll be reluctant to play favorites. They are the “Cardholder,” the “Bifold,” and the “Travel Wallet.” They share virtually all of the same features, though each model’s power bank has a slightly different capacity because of size differences.

The Volterman reached its $45,000 crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo in a couple of hours. Its inventors seemed to anticipate this, though, describing the wallet as “the epitome of market-leading innovation and technological advance.” They’re especially proud of its technological features, which are “all wrapped up in a slim, lightweight, and stylish design.”

“Slim” is no exaggeration. The bifold version of the wallet is only 11 millimeters thick and weighs just 120 grams. It’s also completely waterproof, in case you find yourself in torrential rain. All Volterman wallets are constructed from either genuine Nappa leather or “superior-quality” vegan faux leather, and they are also fully compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

The post Volterman: The World’s Most Powerful Smart Wallet first appeared on Dornob.