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Comment by beatboxrevival | Hacker News Reader

I'm not really sure I understand the marketing. For lost pets, bluetooth really isn't a reliable or great solution. If you could pair the tag with a smart dog bowl, or treat dispenser then you may be on to something interesting.

If you want a iBeacon for your dog, you can just pick up a TI SensorTag and it includes 6 sensors, and code ready to go for using with iOS and Android. All for $25 / half the price.

http://www.ti.com/ww/en/wireless_connectivity/sensortag/inde...

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I use a product called The Cat Locator for my animals (dogs included). It's a radio beacon (with an antenna woven into the collar) that sends out a ping every second. The range in the city on a halfway decent battery is one city block. Batteries last about one month. The housing on the collar is about as big as a stack of four quarters. It's a bit expensive but I never want to lose an animal again.

http://www.com-spec.com/thecatlocator/intro.htm

Does the size of that device bother you or the dogs? My dog would not be okay with that haha.

I was actually surprised that my cats were not bothered one bit by the size or the weight. You can get a pretty good idea of the size here: http://imgur.com/bdVrg8J

If you want better range and are willing to pay a bit more, check out somthing like http://www.merlin-systems.com/falconry/receivers.html

They also offer a variety of transmitters of different sizes and types, some of which are pretty small for small birds- in case you have a small dog or cat and want a smaller transmitter.

Exactly - We are rolling out more sensors that interact with you and your dogs daily life! would love to get more of your input on this.

Would that other thing go on a dog collar? : /

I'd release those devices before the tag. Otherwise, you're just catering to the hacker/maker crowd. They're just going to opt to using something like the SensorTag.

Great suggestion - thanks!

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