Forget to feed the dog? Do it from your smartphone

A new Indiegogo campaign aims to automate pet feeding -- so you'll never leave your pet hungry again.

Whether we admit it or not, sometimes a memory slip means your beloved pet has gone hungry a little longer than usual. But what if you could automate the process, and when you guiltily remember you haven't fed the dog at work, you could simply use a smartphone app to rectify the situation?

Pintofeed is a firm that wants to make this a reality. Claiming to be the "world's first intelligent pet feeder", the company has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to try and raise enough funding to send their product into the commercial world.

The feeder can be connected to any wireless-enabled device, enabling you or family members to keep tabs on the dog or cat's feeding time. Owners can organize an automatic schedule for feeding the family pet -- as long as you've remembered to put stock in the product -- which can hold 5 or 10 pounds' worth of food, depending on one of two bowl sizes.

Pintofeed comes with an Android or iOS-compatible app that can be customized for you and your pet's needs, and you will receive notifications when your pet has been fed. In addition, if power fails or food becomes jammed, you will be alerted -- while the product puts the motor in a "low frequency vibrating mode" to try and free up its contents.

At the time of writing, the Kickstarter-like campaign has been offered $13,545 dollars in funding out of its $50,000 goal with 28 days left to go.

Image credit: Pintofeed

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com