New iPhone app will put your dog on Twitter

Japan's Index Corp., a mobile content provider, plans to launch this summer an iPhone adaptation of the "Bowlingual" dog emotion translator. The original device, first offered in 2002 by Takara Tomy, coupled a microphone that goes around the dog's neck with a handheld receiver with LCD screen for the owner.

It works by analyzing a dog's bark and classifying it into one of six emotions: sad, frustrated, needy, happy, self-expressive and on guard. It then "translates" this into one of several set phrases to go along with each emotion. The product proved to be a hit in Japan selling around 300,000 units and was also put on sale in the U.S. and South Korea.

A revised version went on sale last year in Japan but the new iPhone version will make the technology more widely available and at a much lower price. Index is planning to charge US$4.99 for the app, said Sonoko Tatsuno, a spokeswoman for the company in Tokyo. That's considerably cheaper than the ¥20,000 (US$229) price tag of the stand-alone version.

In addition to analyzing and translating a dog's bark, the software can capture a picture of the dog using the iPhone's built-in camera and then digitally modify it to produce a fisheye-effect. The resulting picture mimics a popular photography technique for capturing dogs and other pets.

The resulting picture can then be combined with the "translation" and sent directly from the iPhone to Twitter.