So I was listening as I always do to "
The Show" on my way to take C to school (LOVE THEM) and heard Sky reporting about this new device coming out from Mattel called Puppy Tweet. I knew when I got home I had to get more info on it. Are we really that involve in our online worlds that now our dogs can have the ability to tweet along with us? I guess the answer is yes.
This is what I found on
CNN.
"Puppy Tweets is a plastic tag with a sound and motion sensor that you attach to your pet's dog collar and connect its USB receiver to your computer. Then you create a Twitter account for your dog and enjoy updates all day from Sparky or whatever its name is on your computer or smartphone.
The tag is set with several pre-recorded tweets that are triggered by the dog's activities. So if he's running around, you might get a tweet that says "I finally caught that tail I've been chasing and...OOUUUCHH!"
If Sparky is napping, he'll tweet "Somedays it feels like my paw is permanently on the snooze button!" If he's making a ruckus, his tweet will let you know that as well, saying"YAHOOOOOOO! Somedays you just gotta get your bark on."
"Puppy Tweets capitalizes on two popular trends - the use of social media and real time communication, as well as peoples' extreme love for their dogs," said Susan Russo, Mattel's director of marketing.
Puppy Tweets is part of the No. 1 toymaker's line-up of new products for 2010 that it showcased to members of the media Thursday ahead of the industry's annual Toy Fair in New York next month.
Jim Silver, a toy industry analyst and editor-in-chief of TimetoPlayMag.com, said he was "curious" about Puppy Tweets when he first saw it.
"I thought that a 5-year-old doesn't know about Twitter," he said. But he said that Mattel is going after an entirely different market and "expanding beyond kids" with Puppy Tweets. "This is a product for adults."
Does it make sense?
Said Silver,"It's a good thing to try especially since no one else has come up with a pet product quite like this."
Puppy Tweets will be available at retailers in the fall, and will carry a suggested retail price of $29.99.
So would you spend 30 bucks to buy this for your dog?