Hasta La Gadget!

Last summer we covered Petzila’s answer to keeping a pet pooch happy when you’re not at home: a remote treat dispenser called PetziConnect which also let absent dog owners view and talk to their pooch while delivering treats from afar. Fast forward a few months and prepare to greet iCPooch: another gizmo aiming for the not-so-stay-at-home dog owner, but one which takes the remote petting to the next obvious level: doggy facetime.

iCPooch, currently seeking $20,000 on Kickstarter to go from prototype to production, provides a plastic housing for repurposing an Android/iOS smartphone or tablet as a video terminal through which you can see and be seen by your dog when you’re not at home.

So, to be clear, you’re going to have to provide the most expensive chunk of hardware required to power this device yourself, fitting it between iCPooch’s adjustable brackets. Although, your old smartphone that’s languishing unused in a drawer is probably going to be perfectly up to the task of treat-talking Fido.

As with PetziConnect, iCPooch holds pet treats (although it’s specifically designed for larger dog biscuits) that the owner can dispense remotely via the ‘drop cookie’ button in the corresponding app.

The differentiator is that because you’re using a smartphone/tablet, the app can also support placing a videocall (via Skype and piggybacking on your home Wi-Fi network) so you can view your dog while you send a treat, and — crucially — be seen by them. That’s one up on PetziConnect which included a camera and microphone so the owner could see and talk to the dog, but no screen to be seen.

Whether your dog will care as much for seeing your remote visage as receiving the tasty treats that materialise in iCPooch’s tray remains to be seen — and judging by the Kickstarter video, the dog’s Pavlovian attachment is likely to quickly transfer to the tray portion of the device, i.e. the place where the treat appears. But at least you get to pretend they’re really happy to see you.

Also remaining to be seen: whether the remote sight and sound of a beloved owner, coupled with the tasty scent of dog biscuits wafting from a box on the floor, drives Fido into such a frenzy of excitement that he systematically deconstructs iCPooch, returning it to the constituent parts from whence it came.

iCPooch was apparently the brainchild of 14-year-old Brooke Martin, who is credited as inventor and spokesman on the Kickstarter project page, with her dad as founder and COO. The idea came to her after the family dog suffered “separation anxiety” as a result of everyone having less time to spend hanging out at home. Ergo she wanted a way to maintain some contact with the dog, when she was out and about.

The family startup is aiming to raise $20,000 on Kickstarter by March 4 to get iCPooch to market, with an estimated shipment date of this May. Early backers can bag the device for $99. But as noted above, that price-tag does not include the cost of the smartphone or tablet you’ll need to turn iCPooch from dumb plastic to working gadget.

(Petzila’s rival PetziConnect, which incorporates its own HD camera and Wi-Fi connectivity into the treat-dispenser, has not yet shipped but is due to arrive in early 2014. It’s available for pre-order costing $170.)

It’s a brave new dawn for the TechCrunch Droidcast as I take over hosting duties from Chris Velazco… who returns temporarily from the distant lands of Engadget to share his insights on Google’s sale of Motorola to Lenovo, the Nexus program at Google and what’s next for hardware there, and the new, slightly improved Ouya Android console.

Remember that you can now also catch Chris on the Engadget Mobile Podcast, if you miss him. Plus remember that even though Google has jettisoned its own pet mobile phone maker, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have hardware chops – the Nest team has just come on board, for instance, and isn’t likely to leave the roost anytime soon. As for the Ouya, if you’re looking to learn more about what’s new with the updated hardware, you’ll find the (short) list here.

We invite you to enjoy weekly Android podcasts every Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern and 1:00 p.m. Pacific (new time!), in addition to our weekly Gadgets podcast at 3 p.m. Eastern and noon Pacific on Fridays. Subscribe to the TechCrunch Droidcast in iTunes, too, if that’s your fancy.

Intro music by Kris Keyser

Direct download available here.

Apple’s plans for iOS 8 focus on redefining health tracking via mobile devices, according to a new report from 9to5Mac, which has a terrific track record when it comes to rumors it has sourced itself. The report details a new marquee application coming in iOS 8 called “Healthbook” that monitors all aspects of health, fitness and workout information, including vitals monitored via the new iWatch, which is said to pack a bevy of sensors and to be “well into development” according to 9to5Mac’s sources.

The health monitoring app called “Healthbook” will come pre-installed on iOS 8, which, if true, would be a huge blow to third-party apps including those made by Fitbit, Nike, Runkeeper and Withings just to name a few. It would track and report steps, calories burned, distance walked and more, including weight fluctuations, and blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate and more.

Apple’s focus on health in iOS 8 is given credence by a number of new reports from this week, including the news from the New York Times earlier today that Apple execs met with the FDA late last year to discuss mobile medical applications. Apple also reportedly hired Michael O’Reilly, M.D. away from a position as Chief Medical Officer of Masimo Corporation in July 2013. O’Reilly is an expert in pulse oximetry among other things, which is used to non-invasively take key vitals from a user via optical sensors.

9to5Mac’s report details functionality of the proposed “Healthbook” app, which, as its name suggests, takes a lot of cues from Passbook. It’ll offer swipeable cards for each vital stat it tracks, letting users page through their medical and health information. The report cautions that this functionality could be taken out prior to the final release of iOS 8: With the FDA’s involvement, one concern might be getting the necessary approvals to market the software as a potential medical aid.

As for the iWatch, the new report doesn’t add much in terms of firm details, but it does suggest we could see a release before year’s end, and offers that it could feature sensors that provide data to Healthbook. That app could also use existing third-party monitors and devices designed for iOS to source data, however. One more tidbit about the iWatch suggests that maps will be a central feature of the device, and navigation on the wrist is actually a prime potential advantage of smartwatch devices that has yet to be properly explored.

We’ve reached out to Apple for comment on these developments, and will update if we learn anything more.

Ouya’s original hardware featured just 8GB of storage onboard, but a temporary Limited Edition all-white version launched during the holidays doubled that to 16GB. Now, the game console startup is making that a permanent feature of its newest hardware, an Ouya console with a solid matte black finish that also offers better Wi-Fi connectivity and a “refined” controller design.

The new 16GB version adds $30 to the MSRP of the original, coming in at a total of $129 for the console and one controller. It goes on sale at Ouya.tv, as well as Amazon and Amazon.ca starting immediately, and the original 8GB model will continue to be sold as well at its original $99 price point (which is discounted to $69.99 currently on Amazon.ca)

As for what’s been improved about the controller, Ouya says that the joysticks and buttons are “better” and that the controller has less lag time overall. We’ve asked for more specifics around the improved Wi-Fi, but have yet to hear back with any details. The new console also ships with the latest Ouya firmware, which is said to improve all-around performance for the Android-powered hardware.

Ouya has faced some challenges lately, including the departure of one of its key founding team members, VP of Product Muffi Ghadiali. The company has not released any sales data recently, so there’s no telling how it’s performing, but the introduction of a new SKU seems a little unusual given the relatively modest nature of the tweaks.

Developers on the platform recently shared some numbers regarding their software sales on the console with Gamespot, which could be an indicator of hardware sales strength. Feedback was mixed, but overall the impression given was that sales by no means represent runaway success. Ouya has raised $23.6 million in funding to date, including its initial crowdfunding campaign and a Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins.

Late last year, a couple of venture firms sought to invest in LEAP Motion’s gesture control technology by helping developers to build businesses around it with an accelerator. Today, the LEAP Axlr8r is opening for business and announcing the first 10 participating companies in the program.

LEAP Motion has built an $80 hardware device that allows any user to control what’s happening on their computer through an interface that tracks the movement of their hands. It’s had more than 70,000 developers sign up to test out and build apps for the device, but few actual apps have been launched so far.

The LEAP Axlr8r seeks to change that by taking LEAP Motion’s technology to the next level. With backing from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, as well as SOSVentures, the firm behind hardware accelerator HAXLR8R, the incubator sought out startups doing interesting things with the next-generation gesture control platform.

Like other incubators, LEAP Axlr8r provides participating companies with a small amount of funding — in this case, $25,000 — and puts them through a three-month program that is designed to refine the products and services they’re seeking to build. Housed near LEAP Motion headquarters in San Francisco, those companies will have access to the engineers who built LEAP Motion technology, as well as a number of mentors who can help with other aspects of the design process.

The whole thing ends in a Demo Day on May 9th. We’ll be tracking their progress and are looking forward to seeing what they release. The first 10 companies participating in the accelerator include:

• MotionSavvy – Giving voice to the deaf and hard-of-hearing through real-time American Sign Language translation
• Diplopia – Restoring depth perception for the 5% of the population affected by amblyopia (lazy eye) through virtual reality computer games using Oculus Rift and Leap Motion
• Sterile Air – Creating the “Operating System” to enable a computerized, sterile surgical OR
• LivePainter – Enabling real-time DJ-ing and VJ-ing as performance art via live web collaboration
• Ten Ton Raygun – Gamifying physical rehabilitation therapy for Stroke and other injuries to make rehab fun, quicker, and measurable
• Mirror Training – Making robots an extension of your own body using Leap Motion and video. A DARPA spinoff revolutionizing robotic arm control with a natural user interface and visual feedback for the user
• GetVu – Creating a next-gen augmented reality platform that mixes computer vision with human vision in a wearable device
• Illuminator 4D – Easily create interactive, holographic environments for retail, and in-home usage
• Crispy Driven Pixels – Reinventing 2D and 3D creative software through a new, natural user interface
• Paralagames – Improving hand-eye coordination through games controlled by the hand