The first legit hoverboard just got a lower price and a new video

By Lulu Chang Published November 21, 2017

Hoverboards have gotten a bad rap lately, what with their spontaneous combusting and faulty batteries, but now, ArcaBoard is here to set the record straight … and also show you what a real hoverboard looks like. We first told you about the world’s first true hoverboard (as in, a board that really does levitate) last Christmas, when it was made available for pre-order at Christmas for a whopping $19,900, but now, the company has some exciting updates to share. First off, you can knock five grand off that original price tag, as the ArcaBoard is now being advertised at $14,900, but more excitingly, the founders have shared a video of the device in action. And yes, friends, it looks like it works.

Heralded as a “revolutionary breakthrough for transportation,” the team behind ArcaBoard promises, “For the first time, every person will be able to fly anytime, anywhere.” Few of the technical aspects have changed — the hoverboard will still feature up to 272 horsepower and 430 pounds of thrust. Its 36 high-power electric ducted fans will keep you in the air for around six minute max, which will take you a little over a mile with a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour.

Recommended Videos

But never fear, thankfully, ArcaBoard now has replacement battery packs in the works, so that you can quickly substitute fresh juice if you want to stay hovering for more than six minutes (and why wouldn’t you?). This is a definite improvement over the previous solution to a dead battery — a 35-minute charging time.

And of course, the best part is the price cut, which was brought about by partnerships with companies like Southwest Composite Works Inc. in the U.S. and Eco Molding Co. in China.

So if you’re ready for a “new exhilarating experience,” go ahead and pre-order now.

Former Contributor

Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

Topics

Emerging Tech

This bizarre email flaw is leaking corporate secrets to anyone who buys the right domain

Security researchers discovered companies are accidentally sending sensitive emails to domains that outsiders can register.

Maill app icon notifications

You don't always need to hack into a company's systems to get its secrets. Sometimes, the company will simply email them to you. A new report by WIRED's Matt Burgess has uncovered a bizarre email security problem in which companies are inadvertently sending sensitive information to domains that can be registered and controlled by outsiders. Security researchers Cory Solovevich and Mike Sheward discovered that seemingly harmless addresses such as noreply and deleteduser can become unexpected gateways to corporate information when the domains behind them aren't properly controlled.

The "hack" is buying the right domain

Emerging Tech

I found 3 ChatGPT features that turned out to be way more useful than I expected

ChatGPT on iPhone

I use ChatGPT pretty much every day, but somewhere along the way, I’ve also developed a habit of poking around and looking for features I haven’t tried yet. Some discoveries are genuinely useful, while others are the kind I’ll probably remember once every six months.

Every once in a while, though, I stumble across something that actually changes how I use ChatGPT. That happened recently with three features I’d somehow been overlooking. I’ve started using all three regularly now, and if you spend a lot of time in ChatGPT too, I think you’re missing out by not giving them a shot.

Emerging Tech

Anker just exposed a big problem with portable power stations

Appliance, Device, Electrical Device

When you're shopping for a portable power station, there's one number that's almost impossible to ignore: battery capacity. A 2 kWh battery should give you roughly 2 kWh of usable power, right? Unfortunately, things aren't quite that simple. Anker SOLIX has published new efficiency data for its S Series portable power stations, and it's putting the spotlight on something that doesn't get nearly as much attention as capacity: how much of the energy stored inside the battery actually makes it to your devices.

According to Anker, portable power stations are commonly advertised with efficiency figures measured under relatively heavy loads, where they can reach roughly 89% to 92% efficiency. But that's not necessarily how most people use one during an outage. Think about what you'd actually plug in. A Wi-Fi router might sip power continuously, a refrigerator switches its compressor on and off throughout the day, and a CPAP machine could run overnight. Together, those devices may draw just a fraction of what a large power station is capable of supplying. And that's where efficiency can start slipping.