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Furry Friend Pet Tech

It’s down to the grind, when we’re all caught up in the hustle bustle of the holidays, checking off those gift lists, making sure no one was missed… but what about those furry friends in your life?  Do you include your beloved pet in your Christmas gift giving?  There are actually many tech products out there these days that could improve you and your pets life!  Let’s face it… it’s basically a gift to yourself and who doesn’t enjoy that?

The Furbo Dog Camera is a Webcam and treat tossing device that kills two birds with one stone and gives you a piece of mind when you’re away.  With 1080p HD video and infrared LED night vision, you can not only spy on your pets activity, but capture photo & video footage to share with family and friends.  The 2-way audio option can help prevent separation anxiety so you can talk with them and ease their worries or coax them off the bed if they’re being too lazy.  Other features include treat tossing and a bark alert.

Does your pet suffer from separation anxiety, fear during thunderstorms, excessive barking, or crate training issues?  The Pet Acoustics Bluetooth Speakers Calming Canine mobile Bluetooth speaker is loaded with music by Pet Acoustics that are clinically proven to ease your dogs anxiety.

Have a pet that requires a special diet?  Try the Petkit Fresh Smart Digital White Feeding Pet Bowl!  The digital scale shows you the weight of the food in the bowl so you have better control of their portion sizes.  It’s great for pets who have special diets for health purposes.  The Smart bowl is also Anti-Bacterial for added freshness.

If your pet is fairly reliable in the lawn but you’re worried about them wandering off on a random whim, the Whistle 3 Dog & Cat GPS Tracker & Activity Monitor could work for you.  This app based GPS tracking system sends out a whistle when they wander close to their boundaries.  In addition, it logs their daily activity and lets you know of any drastic changes. The best candidates for this, would be elderly pets so you can have a piece of mind that they are safe and sound. I don’t think I’d recommend this for highly active dogs prone to running off, though.  A full-blown containment system might be a better alternative for those personalities.

Does your cat need some new entertainment?  The PetSafe Cheese Cat Toy  is like Wack-A-Mole for cats!  The mice pop in and out of each side of the Swiss cheese block so your cat can play peek-a-boo all day long.  Endless fun for your little feline!  While you’re away, the cats can play!

Don’t make your small pet miss out on all the fun… take them with you in a Cat and Small Dog Sling!  They’ll feel safe, involved, and you don’t have to worry about their whereabouts.

The fetching pooch will never be bored with an automatic ball thrower!  The All for Paws Interactive Fetch’N Treat Dog Toy will be dog’s best friend, when they get a treat for bringing the ball back.  For active dogs, this is a great source of endless exercise and fun until they tire themselves out!

What cat or dog doesn’t go ballistic over a laser… PetSafe Bolt Cat Toy could be the light of their lives and keep them entertained both with and without you in the house.  Either hold the wand in your hand or set it on a table and let the rolling ball project random light patterns all over the room.

We all have bad habits.  If you’re having problems keeping your fur-friends out of inappropriate places (such as the toilet bowl!) providing them with their own dedicated Refilling Toilet Water Bowl could satisfy their nasty needs.  The refill tank on back provides an added benefit since you won’t have to refill their bowl as often! 

Ok, this one may only be appreciated by the most obsessive cat owners out there, but it’s worth mentioning.  If you have an Echo, you can get an app called Meow Skill that acts as a virtual cat so your kitty can have a back and forth conversation with Alexa… in meow talk.  Yes, the app will meow back to your cat each time it meows.

Happy meowing!

Get your running sneakers ready for this Black Friday!  If you haven’t started your gift lists grab a pen and paper now and we’ll get you started with some of the top affordable tech gifts of 2017!  Whether you’re looking for Him or Her or the Littles in your life, there’s something here for everyone.

For HIM

Smartphone Projector
Let’s face it, most of us use our smartphones more than many other devices in our lives.  Take that sharing experience to new heights with a smartphone projector!  A new twist in casting.  Check out the cheaper alternative here!

BioLite CampStove 2
Have a great outdoorsman in your life? Here’s an interesting contraption to stay green and connected all at once!

Tile Slim
Is your guy constantly losing his phone, keys, wallet…(fill in the blank)…?  Let the Tile take the guesswork out of finding those lost items!

For HER

Echo 2nd Generation
With updated features including more built-in microphones and sound quality, the 2nd generation Echo can’t go wrong as a last minute gift for anyone!

Samsung SmartThings Hub
Let’s face it.  Women are worry warts.  Why not put her mind at ease about anything at home so you can enjoy a night out on the town… worry free!  The SmartThings Hub allows you to control and monitor all the smart objects in your home remotely.

Smartphone Photo Cube Printer
In this day and age, we probably have more photos on our phones than our point and shoot cameras.  We may share the majority of our photos on phones, but there’s also something to be said about a physical print to ensure the best of the best is preserved and able to be passed down to future generations. The Smartphone Photo Cube Printer helps to close this gap!

For KIDS

LeapFrog LeapPad Ultimate Kids Learning Tablet
Back in the day, we learned basic skills when we started kindergarten, but in today’s world, our children are expected to already have a basic knowledge of many skills before they even begin those primary grade levels.   This LeapFrog Tablet is not only affordable, but packed full of skill reinforcement and helps prepare and enhance what your kids need to know in school.

Bit
If you have a creative, techy kiddo in your life, consider this artistic robot who combines drawing and coding.  Use colored markers to make paths for it to follow through sensors and connect to a computer or tablet for additional programming features.

Ninitendo Switch
The Switch makes gaming a more versatile and life-like experience with features that allow single-player, multi-player, and shared screen options all in one small device.  Be sure to check out the parental control options as well as a list of top Switch Games of 2017 & 2018 right here.

If you’ve ever uttered the words “Hey Cortana…”, you’re well aware of the other innovative features that Microsoft’s Kinect accessory brings to the world of television and gaming, such as voice command features, automatic recognition, and Skype and Twitch capabilities due to it’s high-quality camera technology. Despite all of these, Microsoft has finally announced the end of Kinect this morning, after several years of trying to perfect and mainstream its use.

When they launched Kinect in 2010 it was considered new and revolutionary technology for the camera to be able to sense depth and interact with its users, even winning them a spot in the Guinness World Records after becoming the fastest-selling consumer device in 2011. The Kinect could recognize bodies in the room and pick out the voice of it’s user over other background noises, making Skype features and gaming communications over  Twitch more reliable and clearer. After tweaking the technology for a couple years, they chose to marry the device with the Xbox One to make it more mainstream. While the device itself wasn’t as popular in the market as they had hoped, the sensor technology has been adopted by other companies to be used in various devices, such as Apples iPhone X, where they shrunk the sensor down and used the same algorithm to enhance it’s Face ID system.

While the death of the Kinect device itself seemed ultimate, the technology behind it is still considered innovative and is being sought out to continue the development of other devices that can use the technology in various forms to bring other new and creative ways for electronics to interact with their surroundings through a natural user interface.