Each day at South-by-Southest, several things could happen that might slightly bum you out for a few minutes: You can’t get into the showcase where your new favorite band is playing; the party you’re at runs out of free Lone Star; your phone battery dies at 4 p.m. and your hotel is all the way up I-35, just out of walking distance. :/
California tech company mophie can’t get you into venues and it can’t hook you up with endless brews, but it can keep your phone charged — and they have the dogs to prove it.
According to USA Today, mophie has teamed up with Austin’s St. Bernard Rescue Foundation to help keep people’s smart phones charged up. This weekend during SXSW Interactive, Friday through Sunday, those with dangerously low power on their phones can tweet at mophie, who will then send the dogs out to that person’s location, equipped with “power reserve batteries” in the barrels around their necks. St. Bernard’s were hired because the canine breed is known for rescue missions.
“They are obviously traditionally known for saving peoples’ lives so we took that and molded it into our own thing,” mophie marketer Kevin Malinowski tells USA Today.
Those in need this weekend need to follow three simple steps: tweet out a screenshot of their dead phone to @mophie, include the hashtag #mophierescue, and provide his or her location. A rescue dog could soon be on the way.
Some of the dogs, it should be noted, will be available to adopt, as well.
[h/t Do512]