South by Southwest has established itself as one of the best places not only to showcase your band, but also new films, firms and technology. Keeping this in mind, Mophie—a developer of electronics charging products, including battery cases—has come up with the greatest thing for those lacking charge on their phones at the Austin, festival: St. Bernards with battery charging devices coming to your rescue (from Consequence of Sound).
The dogs are better known for rescue operations in the Swiss Alps versus the rather arid Austin environment, recognized for the small barrels of whiskey they would deliver to those trapped by avalanches and other snowy disasters, in order to warm the insides while leading rescuers to the scene. Now, they'll save your phone and as someone who has battled battery drain at music festivals, we appreciate this idea greatly. All you need to do is tweet a photo of your battery charge level and your current location to Mophie, and they'll send a dog.
But wait, you say: Isn't it unsafe for the dogs to just be wandering the crowded streets of Austin alone? Well, duh, yeah. The animals will be accompanied by professional handlers as well so no one gets harmed in the process. Even better: The dogs in use are representatives of the St. Bernard Rescue Foundation, and the company/group are pushing to get every one of the volunteers adopted following the festival. That makes this a win-win, with another win thrown in for good measure.
Sure makes us feel better inside than BBH Labs and its attempts to use homeless people as roving 4G hotspots at SXSW's technology conference. Although the company was paying its volunteers for the work, the $20 payday seems a little below minimum wage requirements. They are allowed to keep tips from those using the services offered however, basically making them wi-fi waiters. And, uh, using human beings as routers seems slightly creepy.
