Furbo is a smart dog camera that allows you to see, hear, and chat to your dog, as well as throw food at them, which is a Verge staff favourite. However, there was one flaw: your animals roamed around all day, and this camera couldn’t follow them. (Unless you put it in the back of Amazon’s Astro home robot, but that’s a story for another time.) Furbo rectified that problem this week with the launch of its new Furbo 360° Dog Camera, which is available today for $210 but is available for $167 on Amazon and Furbo.com.
The new Furbo has been enhanced with a wide-angle lens, colour night vision, and auto dog tracking to automatically follow your pooch as they walk around the living room, in addition to rotating 360 degrees on its base to record all the action. You can also operate the camera from afar.
The new Furbo camera includes bark detection, treat-tossing, and two-way speak so you can talk to your dog (despite the name, there’s no reason why you can’t also keep eyes on your feline companion).
This type of smart home camera adds an extra level of fun to the traditional “just-checking-in-to-make-sure-he-hasn’t-eaten-the-couch” security camera as many of us return to the workplace, leaving our furry pals home alone once again. The key selling point of Furbo is that you can use its app to throw treats at your dog in an Angry Birds-style interface that shows you a live video of your dog receiving the sweets.
The treat-throwing also ensures that they will approach the camera (they quickly learn to associate the noise that the camera makes with a snack coming their way). You’ll be able to spin the gadget and observe if they’re sleeping soundly on the couch thanks to the Furbo 360’s new panning functionality.
The built-in camera records video in up to 1080p HD and includes a 4x digital zoom, allowing you to get up close and personal with Fido. When it comes to chewing, FurboDog Nanny is a membership service that adds some unique AI alarms, such as ones for constant barking, howling, or crying. Person alerts and cloud video recording (up to 15 seconds) are also included, as well as a daily 60-second recap of your pup’s experiences captured on camera. FurboDog Nanny, which costs $6.99 per month or $69 annually, is included with the Furbo 360 for a 30-day trial.