Here at Gajitz, we’ve been burned by the promise of working hoverboards before. We get all excited about someone’s new invention that promises to let us zoom around like Marty McFly, only to be crushed when the “innovation” turns out to be bogus. That’s why we were ultra-skeptical when everyone started buzzing about the Hendo Hoverboard.

But initial reports of test drives are rolling in, and surprisingly they seem to indicate that this thing actually works. But there is, as always, a catch: it can only hover above certain metallic surfaces, so to ride it in its current iteration you’ll need a specially-constructed hoverboard park. It works with technology based on electromagnetics and currently can hover only an inch above the ground.

So far it doesn’t sound too exciting, right? Watch the video above and you might change your mind. It’s not like other “revolutionary” hoverboards that can float an inch or two above the ground but can’t support any weight. It can actually carry a rider and move around somewhat like a skateboard. It can’t go as fast as a skateboard or do the same tricks, but it’s early days in product development and it seems likely that the Hendo will only get better from here.

Jill and Greg Henderson, the founders of Hendo, are confident that the technology will continue to evolve to the point that the board will no longer need a metal surface to work. They predict it will be able to move over regular solid ground and maybe even water (take THAT, hoverboards in Back to the Future Part II!).

The Hendo is, at this point, a proof of concept and not an actual product that you can buy. The team is working on refining and advancing the technology, and as such they’ve taken to Kickstarter to get the public involved in their work. For $10,000 early supporters were offered the chance to buy the first 10 Hendo Hoverboards ever produced, but as of publication time they’re already gone. You can still buy scale replicas to display on your desk or little hovering cubes to play with the hovering technology. The project has shredded its funding goal, and we’re looking forward to seeing just how far the Hendersons can take their seriously exciting idea.

The post The World’s First Working Hoverboard Has Finally Arrived first appeared on Gajitz.

Japan and China are locked in an epic battle for bragging rights related to super-fast trains. They both want to be able to claim to have the world’s fastest high-speed train – and it looks like Japan is about to speed ahead in this competition.

The country plans to build a high-speed mag-lev train between Tokyo and Nagoya that will be completed in 2027. The $64 billion project would be able to carry passengers at dizzying speeds: up to 310 miles per hour. With the current train running at around 167 miles per hour, the new high-speed wonder would trim about 40 minutes off of the trip.

Currently, China holds the title for the world’s fastest passenger train: it can travel up to 302 miles per hour on its track between Beijing and Shanghai, but the line isn’t presently open to the public. If this build in Japan goes according to plan, commuters could be enjoying an extra half hour of sleep before their morning train ride in the future.

The post Need for Speed: World’s Fastest Train in Land of Rising Sun first appeared on Gajitz.