Hoverboards Need Wiz Khalifa and Justin Bieber to Sell - http://clapway.com/2016/01/09/hoverboards-need-wiz-khalifa-and-justin-bieber-to-sell-123/

No one is totally sure why they’re called hoverboards, but they are the new trend to get around on your feet. Thanks to Wiz Khalifa and Justin Bieber, among other less safe reasons, they’re completely selling out.

It’s Motorized Self-Balancing Board, Not Hoverboard

A lot of people have been fooled by the name ‘hoverboard’. The correct term is motorized self-balancing board, but that’s just semantics. The hype for these gadgets started when rapper Wiz Khalifa was forced to the ground and handcuffed at LAX. The reason? Refusing to get off of his hoverboard. Turns out you can still get in trouble with the law for owning a hoverboard, but for a slightly different reason.

Hoverboards as we know them know have been around for some time. They are only now becoming a popular mode of transport. There are even single-wheeled versions of the cool gadgets. Hoverboards only became a trend, though, as celebrities started popularizing them.

Celebrities like Wiz Khalifa and Justin Bieber Gave The Gadgets Good Rep

After the Wiz Kahlifa incident, a lot of people got curious about the term hoverboard. This is the stuff of Back to the Future and other fictional worlds, and it’s now a reality. Khalifa tweeted that hoverboards will be the technology everyone would be using in as soon as six months. Truly enough, a lot of people are ditching walking to lean slightly on this two-wheeled machine.

Jamie Foxx also promoted these gadgets quietly, strolling onto the set of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on a hoverboard. Many other celebrities got onto the trend, and hoverboards spread over social media like wildfire. There’s even a dance cover of a Justin Bieber song with a hoverboard choreography. Justin Bieber himself has posted videos of himself riding one of the gadgets on his own social media.

Now, The Gadgets Are Seen in a Totally Different Light

Hoverboards are more popular than ever now, but not entirely for good reasons. Most major airlines in the world have banned hoverboards coming on board. This started to happen after hoverboards started bursting to flames while charging unattended. This has given hoverboards a lot of negative light. Many retailers have stopped selling them, with only a select few having them available. Is the world just not ready for them yet? It’s yet to be seen.

 

 

Hoverboards Need Wiz Khalifa and Justin Bieber to Sell

Is The ROAM Hoverboard A Real Hoverboard? - http://clapway.com/2015/12/25/is-the-roam-hoverboard-a-real-hoverboard-123/

Even though hoverboards have been banned in many spaces, it looks like the ROAM Hoverboard is still on sale. At Bed Bath and Beyond. Weird, right?

2015 is the year of the hoverboard, there’s no doubt about that. Why is it, though, that we insist on calling them hoverboards when they don’t actually hover? There’s been a lot of backlash with the release of these gadgets for a multitude of reasons. They have been flagged as unsafe, unfit for public use and banned in certain spaces in less than a year, and it’s only the beginning.

Most Online Stores Don’t Even Sell Hoverboards Anymore

Recently, most major airlines started to ban hoverboards from being brought into their cabins. This is because of many concerns that the gadgets may catch fire because of the unreliability of their battery. This was a particularly pressing concern in the UK, who has banned the use of hoverboards in the city of London recently. New York City passed a similar bill that banned the use of hoverboards on sidewalks.

These Concerns Took Most Hoverboards Out of Stores

Many stores decided to take out all hoverboards from their stores thanks to these laws and incidents. Any stores that did have the gadgets probably ran out of stock, since they’re pretty much the best selling gadget of the holiday season besides the Apple Watch.

Bed Bath and Beyond, Alibaba and eBay Still Sell the ROAM Hoverboard

Bed Bath and Beyond, who is really not best known for selling the latest in tech, has the ROAM hoverboard in stock for $499. This is an average price for the gadgets, and according to their reviews, customers aren’t too concerned about safety. They say that the batteries are safer than other hoverboards and are happy with their ROAM hoverboard.

Where Did These Hoverboard Fires Start?

The fires reported by UK officials were started from leaving the hoverboards to charge for too long. This has prompted a serious warning telling users not to leave their boards to charge unattended. ROAM hoverboard buyers have expressed no such concerns, and apparently, it’s gone so far so good.

There are other retailers that are selling the same hoverboard, including Chinese Alibaba and eBay. They all go for a similar price and reviews also look semi-positive. However, many may not feel so safe anyway.

Here’s the Real Question: Why Do We Call them Hoverboards?

If it has wheels, it doesn’t hover. So why do we call these gadgets hoverboards? They come in a set of wheels and don’t actually let you hover in the air so why are they called hoverboards?

It’s likely just because the trend caught on, and because this is probably bringing us one step closer to real hoverboards. Silicon Valley is probably already hard at work bringing us an upgrade from motorized self-balancing devices that are closer to our imagined view of hoverboards. This would include plenty of space between ourselves and the ground.

Meanwhile, These Boards Make us ‘Lazier’

Another great criticism that hoverboards have faced is that they make people lazy. As if our lives weren’t enough of a commodity already, hoverboards take away the need to walk. To some people, they are a nuisance and discourage physical activity, which we probably all need more of. Never the less, haters gonna hate, regardless of how cool your board is.

Hoverboards have a long way to go before they’re accepted by the general public. There’s a serious issue in regards to their safety, which will probably be resolved within the next few years. After that, they will need to comb through some laws to get more widely accepted, and hopefully, it is all smooth sailing from that point onwards. They’ll probably become the trendiest gadget of 2016 and maybe for a long time to come.

Is The ROAM Hoverboard A Real Hoverboard?

Swagway Hoverboards and Hello Barbie: Most Dangerous Toys of 2015 - http://clapway.com/2015/12/15/swagway-hoverboards-and-hello-barbie-most-dangerous-toys-of-2015-123/

Toys have become quite dangerous recently. After hoverboards were banned from nearly every major airline, Amazon has decided to quietly take down Swagway hoverboards from their website. The e-commerce website decided to take them down due to a safety risk, which can no longer be denied after several of fires caused by the gadgets took over headlines recently.

Amazon Takes Down Swagway Hoverboards, but Still Sells Other Hoverboards

There are some brands that can still be found on the website, such as Jetson, Razor Hovertrax and Hover X, but Swagway hoverboards can now only be purchased directly from the Swagway website. The links that go to Swagway products on Amazon is no longer functioning, and Swagway released a statement declaring that all buyers looking for hoverboards should go to the official website. Amazon hasn’t made an official statement as to why they removed only that hoverboard brand from the website, but they will likely release official word soon.

Hoverboards Have Been Banned in Most Major Airlines

Nearly all major airlines have banned hoverboards from being brought onboard due to the fire hazard. American Airlines, Delta and United have declared that hoverboards are banned as carry-on or checked luggage because of concerns that their batteries catch fire. Even Southwest Airlines issued an advisory that it would also ban the devices from being brought into their cabins.

JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines also issued bans recently, and these are surfacing as US authorities and regulators are investigating reports of the motorized self-balancing boards sporadically catching fire or exploding. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has declared at least ten reports of fires caused by the device.

intense colours, man – smoky patterns on white

The boards, which cost $200-$1,500 on average have the potential to be one of the most popular holiday gifts, but many of them won’t be able to make any kind of travel by plane. Celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner have posted footage of themselves on the gadgets, which has only aided to their sales. However, websites like Amazon and Overstock.com are taking measures to take some down due to safety concerns.

The cause of these fires is likely the boards’ lithium-ion batteries, which seem to be less safe than advertised. Delta released an official explanation for their decision to ban the devices. The airline reviewed several hoverboards and decided that their batteries were not only poorly labelled, but that manufacturers were not providing the airline with appropriate information regarding their size and power. Federal Aviation Administration Guidelines specify that lithium-ion batteries are allowed on board only if they don’t exceed 160-watt hours per battery.

Another Contender for Most Dangerous Toy of the Year is Mattel and Vtech Hello Barbie Doll

Speaking of hazards to children, the Vtech Hello Barbie doll faced some serious pressure from the general public and authorities this year. Mattel’s Hello Barbie Doll is Wi-Fi enabled and can even record the voices of children, and while it’s a cool and high tech toy, it is also easily accessible to hackers.

A hacker obtained several photos and chat logs of children from Vtech, which makes the electronics in the dolls, kick-starting a whole uproar in regards to what exactly Vtech is doing to protect children’s information and how it is protecting it. The company revealed that it had very little security on the information of the children and that it would do everything in their power to better protect children information for the future.

This once again proves that while technology is something people rely on, it’s not something we should be entirely trusting of. Hopefully further fixes and security tightening will keep both the hoverboard and the Vtech Hello Barbie at the top of wish lists for years to come.

Swagway Hoverboards and Hello Barbie: Most Dangerous Toys of 2015

Another Loss for Hoverboards, Fans Are Disappointed - http://clapway.com/2015/12/04/another-loss-for-hoverboards-fans-are-disappointed123/

All fans looking to get hoverboards this Christmas should be really careful about them. This week, British authorities have confiscated boards because they did not pass basic safety checks.

More Than 17,000 Boards Coming from Outside the EU Examined

All confiscated boards were tested for safety. Only 3,000 passed. The National Trading Standards released a statement explaining that the devices were a fire hazard, capable of exploding. This has even forced authorities to release a tip sheet on the gadgets, advising people never to leave them to charge unattended as it can catch fire, which has already happened both in British soil and in American.

Hoverboard Owners Should Be Careful

A video was posted by a hoverboard owner in Arizona, where his board caught fire three days after purchase. The technology used for hoverboards is still growing and evolving, though the gadgets are already popular. Flagship store Macy’s has an entire section dedicated to them, in fact. This is a crucial time for this technology, as customer response will tell if companies should stop or develop the making of this product.

Many Gadgets May Not Make it Under the Tree

A lot of hoverboards will surely be coming into all parts of the world for the holidays. People should put safety as the main priority when buying these boards. This will not only mean that it will get past airports, but that it will be safe for all to use. No one wants their hoverboards to blow up while charging! Potential buyers should know all they can before buying their board.

Another Loss for Hoverboards, Fans Are Disappointed