Sunday, April 23, 2017

New Gadgets, Petcube!

Recently I wrote how we received the Amazon Echo Dot for christmas.  It was a fun gadget, but it was just a novelty and not really utilized for anything.  That changed when I bought two outlets that connect to wifi to control power to whatever you plug into them.  So now, both lamps in the living room are controlled by voice with Alexa or by using the app from wherever you are.  Not a necessary thing, but I think it's pretty neat.

Since then, I was looking for a bluetooth speaker to use exclusively for Alexa.  I would up getting a bigger version of the Amazon Basics bluetooth speaker that I already have and like.  Now it is much easier to listen to music - anything we really want through Alexa and Amazon Prime.  Another use for the Dot, and a good one for us.

While I was getting that speaker I came across another gadget that caught my fancy, and I ordered it pretty quickly - the Petcube.  The Petcube is a 4 inch cube with a camera that connects to wifi that you can use to see your pets from wherever you are on your phone via the app.   When you log into the camera the cube itself makes a noise and a light on it turns blue letting you know the camera is live.  Through the app you can play with the cats with a laser or turn on the sound to talk to them.  You can also take a picture or video if they happen to be super cute.  If it's dark, they have a more expensive version with night vision, but again, I can turn on the lamps from anywhere with my phone.  There is also a feature you can pay for that will use it like security, recording when it detects loud sounds or movement.
img_2017.04.15_14.18.36

The cats have become familiar with the noise it makes when it comes on, so when they hear it they will come out to the living room and start looking for the laser!  It's not the easiest to control, with your finger on your phone screen, but they do have fun with it.  And almost everyone I know has absolutely loved it when I showed it to them, other than one relative who acted rather dismissive but I think he likes to think he's on top of all the tech things so it's old news to him.  I think it's quite a lot of fun and still not something everyone has heard of, but I know several people that I showed it to who may have one of their own soon!

5 comments:

Kel said...

I love that! I just showed the kids. We prob won't get one to just see Macy sleep on the couch all day, haha. This pic is great! I do like the wifi outlet idea, hmmmmm.

delcatto said...

I like the sound of that gadget. Entertains the moggies and secures the home. The littlest cat would probably try to eat it like everything else she comes into contact with!

Scoakat said...

There is also an autoplay option for the laser. I've not fully explored that option yet, but it may be suited for a bigger space than we have. And they do offer a product that you can actually throw them treats, but that's the one the cats would try to break in!

We're not signing up for the monthly fee for the security options. I've not fully explored it, but from what I understand we will have a 4 hour window to retrieve recorded video, not 10 or even 30 days at a monthly fee. Something like that.

Blue Witch said...

I read somewhere that the tech being invented now is largely stuff that no-one actually needs, as it is invented by 20 year old geeks who think of things to entertain rather than to be practical to older people who have real-life, real-world, problems. I think I can see what the author of the article meant now... ;)

Scoakat said...

LOL - This would be a good example, BW!