Wearable tech for your dog? Life360 releases a new pet tracker

By Queenie Wong Los Angeles Times Millions of people already use the Life app to track the location of their family members and loved ones Now the California tech company behind the popular family safety app is hoping people will use a new gadget and their location-tracking services to keep tabs on their pets On Wednesday Life unveiled a new tracking device people can attach to their pet s collar The product called Life Pet GPS uses cellular GPS Wi-Fi and Bluetooth system so people can accurately pinpoint where their furry friends are The device works with the Life app so people can track their pets on a digital map set up alerts if the pet strays outside set boundaries provide exigency contact information for pets and notify other members if their dog or cat gets lost First circulated in Life became a popular app for people to track the location of their kids grandparents and other family members The company founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when people were trying to locate and stay connected to loved ones has added more services such as roadside assistance and identity theft protection The release of the pet tracker shows how location sharing is becoming more common even amid concerns about privacy and stalking Pet trackers can cost hundreds of dollars so particular pet owners have tried Apple AirTags or similar products as cheaper alternatives However using several products can be risky because dogs sometimes swallow AirTags and the locations aren t constantly up to date Life explained the tracker will cost roughly but there will be a discount as part of an introductory offer New or existing Life Gold or Platinum members will be able to buy the Pet GPS tracker for for a limited time The San Mateo-based company will also waive the activation fee which is usually around for the first tracker added to a private group known as a Circle on the app Life reported its new tracker is resistant to water dust and biting The device includes a battery that lasts up to days and will enter a Bluetooth Reserve Mode making it feasible for people to locate their pets for up to six months The pet tracker comes in colors such as pink navy and black and is being published in the U S U K Canada Australia and New Zealand Lauren Antonoff chief executive at Life disclosed in a report that the company aims to make it easier for people to bring home their pets safely Traditional safety measures like microchips require a vet or shelter visit and often have missing or outdated info and all-purpose Bluetooth trackers can struggle to locate pets on the move especially in remote areas she stated in a message The pet tracker gives Life another stream of revenue Related Articles Wedding etiquette includes being mindful of how much it costs guests to attend One Tech Tip Keeping up with your Halloween trick-or-treaters with these tricks Cambodia opens a new billion airport to serve Phnom Penh A new book takes a stab at explaining how Scream changed horror films Eye-opening apples recipes explore our favorite fruit s savory side More than million Life members own pets the company announced The company owns Tile trackers people attach to their keys wallets bikes and other objects along with Jiobit which also sells a pet tracker Life has a free version of its app and specific users pay a monthly subscription fee for additional features including family driving summary roadside assistance and journey endorsement The company primarily generates revenue from the sale of subscriptions and tracking devices Various of Life s revenue has come from selling aggregated non-personally identifiable information to partners and third-party products and services according to its annual statement As of June Life has roughly million monthly functioning users across more than countries Life declared in August that its second-quarter revenue reached million up from the same period last year Its net income during that quarter was around million Los Angeles Times Visit at latimes com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC