Pawport brings security (and smarts) to your existing pet door

By Jon Bitner January 10, 2024

A dog sitting next to the Pawport pet door. — Pawport

CES 2024

Read and watch our complete CES coverage here

Of all the wild smart home gadgets on display at CES 2024, few are as quirky as Pawport. This unique gadget is a motorized pet door cover that’s programmable via an accompanying smartphone app and works in conjunction with a collar tag — allowing it to automatically open when your pet approaches.

Pawport is built to bring added security to your home, giving you a simple way to monitor your existing pet door. Using the app, you can control the door remotely, set curfew times, schedule when the port can open or close, and even issue voice commands with Alexa, Siri, or Google. Other cool features include pet tracking and usage data, letting you know exactly when your pet is walking into (and away from) your home.

A person placing the Pawport over a pet door. — Pawport

If you don’t have your phone with you, the unit has a control panel that lets you quickly lock or unlock the door, close or open the door, toggle its light, and more.

Recommended Videos

Constructed from steel and aluminum — and with deadbolt locks — it should provide a nearly impenetrable seal that keeps out would-be pets like raccoons and coyotes. Despite its heavy-duty construction, Pawport looks surprisingly sleek, thanks to vibrant LED lights and a variety of available patterns such as glacier, expresso, napa oak, and brushed nickel.

To power the unit, you can use swappable battery packs or solar charging panels. Pawport even offers ramps to help elderly pets navigate the pet door. The company will even be offering complete pet door systems, so if you don’t have an existing pet door, Pawport can help you get one installed that’s fully compatible with its technology.

Pawport won’t start shipping products until the second quarter of 2024, but some products are now available for preorder. Prices start at $459, but quickly inflate if you bundle in additional accessories.

Topics

Jon Bitner is a writer covering consumer electronics, technology, and gaming. His work has been published on various websites…

Smart Home

Prepare for Halloween with these smart home gadgets

A Ring Video Doorbell next to Halloween decorations.

It’s officially spooky season, and that means Halloween is right around the corner. And if you’re hoping to have the most haunted house on the block, it’s worth looking at how today’s best smart home devices can help you achieve your goal. Whether you’re throwing a costume party, spending the night curled up with a scary movie, or expecting to have hundreds of trick-or-treaters lining up at your door, there’s a good chance upgrading your smart gadgets can make the spooky season all the more exciting.

Here’s a look at how video doorbells, smart lights, and other smart devices can help you celebrate Halloween.
Update your video doorbell with a terrifying chime

Smart Home

Ring Protect rebrands to Ring Home and adds 24/7 recording

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 installed near a door.

Ring owners seeking to unlock everything their devices have to offer are likely familiar with Ring Protect Plans. By paying a monthly fee, you can access features such as 180-day video history, snapshot capture, and smart alerts. Today, Ring has officially rebranded Ring Protect to Ring Home -- and it’s gained some cool functionality while still retaining the same pricing structure.

Previously offered as Ring Protect Basic, Protect Plus, or Protect Pro, you’ll soon be greeted with Ring Home Basic ($5 per month), Home Standard ($10 per month), and Home Premium ($20 per month). All that’s changed here is the name, as your monthly payments will remain identical to the old Protect Plans. However, you can now add individual services to the Home Standard and Home Premium Plans -- so if you want to tack on a Virtual Security Guard or Alarm Professional Monitoring, you can do so for an extra fee.

Smart Home

This smart water bottle is more useful than I expected

The Water.io water bottle on a tble.

Smart water bottles never seemed like a necessity to me. Instead, I assumed they were overpriced gadgets that didn’t do enough to warrant their price tags. But after checking out the Water.io smart water bottle, I'm starting to change my tune. Let me be clear -- I still don’t think everyone needs to rush out and buy a smart water bottle. However, if you’re a fitness enthusiast or trying to cut back on your soft drink consumption, they might be a good fit.
Just smart enough

Though they may be called a smart water bottles, most of these products don’t actually sync with smart home platforms like Google Home and Apple Home. Instead, they’re “smart” by way of a mobile app. That holds true for the Water.io water bottle. It’s in the app that you’ll enter information such as your height and weight, allowing the water bottle to set a target hydration goal for you. With that done, setting up the Water.io is largely complete.