The Future Is Here: Buy A Flying Car

Some dream of having a flying car, soaring through the air. Boy, if you’ve got $194,000, a sport pilot license, and some patience, that car can now be yours. The Transition plane-car from manufacturer Terrafugia has been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Look for the future-affirming vehicle by late 2011.

The Transition’s features read like a wish list come true. See after the break.

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No Joke: 3D Books Return To Google

It might have started as an April Fool’s joke but–hey–if you’ve got the code, you might as well use it. And so, Google Books has returned to the Internet the option to view all its books in glorious 3D.

With just a pair of red-cyan 3D glasses (you still have those from the June edition of Playboy, right?) and a tweak to the book’s URL, you can see the text of any book on Google jump right off the page–just like in real life!

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Microsoft Kinect Only Supports 2 Active Players

We got a chance to play with Microsoft’s Kinect at E3 this year and walked away fairly impressed. It wasn’t perfect but with a few months until launch we were told tweaks can be expected. At the time we were told by Microsoft the dual camera system is able to track up to 6 players at once on the screen. However we are now learning Kinect will only be able to track two ‘active players’ at once.

Retailer Play has released specs for Microsoft’s upcoming device on its website which states only two players can actually play at once which seems a bit surprising. Even the Wii lets up to four players play at the same time.

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Microsoft Working On 3D Gesture-Controlled Display

Take the tech behind the Kinect, combine it with a transparent OLED screen and throw in a fancy new “wedge” lens and you’ve got the future of the interactive computer: the 3D, gesture-controlled interface science fiction loves.

Microsoft Applied Sciences Group has given us a peek into the challenge of making computer-human interaction as easy as picking up blocks as a child. In their words, they want to create a display technology that will be “an interactive window on the digital world, where the display will know who and where the user is, present content that is context aware, and allow natural interactions with the display surface.”

Forget the archaic mouse and even the soon-passé multitouch screen, we’re moving toward Tony Stark’s workshop.

For a better sense of where the Microsoft researchers are headed, check out the three videos after the break.

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Formidable Fizz Pepsi

Move over Jolt Cola! Make way Bawls! There’s a new kid in town. Pepsi has come up with a new energy drink in the form of a shot. The Pepsi Strong Shot has extra caffeine and way more carbonation than a traditional Pepsi. So much in fact the can has a warning on the lid to wait 15 seconds after opening to drink.

Unfortunately Pepsi Strong Shot is only available in Japan.

[Via InventorSpot]

iMovie on Your iPhone 3GS

One of the great new features of the iPhone 4 is the fact you can download the newly released iMovie app and use it to edit home movies right on your phone. Too bad you can’t do that on your iPhone 3GS. Or can you? The smart cookies over at Redmond Pie have figured out how to do it.

In order to get iMovie up and running you’ll have to have the latest iOS4 installed on your iPhone 3Gs or your iPod Touch. You also need to have your device jailbroken. Once you download iMovie from the App Store you’ll have to change two lines of code in the app, then you’ll be good to go!

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The Electric Version Of The Humble Bike Bell

Some would argue the point of riding a bike is simplicity. It’s just you, some gears, a couple of wheels, a chain, and a seat. But there are some who like bikes because they present another opportunity for gadgets.

Introducing the electric bike bell. In case you’ve gotten tired of a normal bell or just hollering at slow pedestrians to get out of your way.

Mount it on your handlebars and with a push of a button, it can warn others to step aside.

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Giving Away $10,000,000? Google Proves It’s Tough

Two years ago, Google celebrated its tenth anniversary by launching a competition to give away $10 million to the top five submissions that demonstrated using technology to better humanity. It was cutely called Project 10 to the 100th (you know: a googol).

Last year, the company selected 16 finalists out of more than 150,000 entries. Then, the world voted to create a top five. And in October 2009, the polls were closed and the votes were tallied.

Chirp… chirp… cue tumbleweed.

Despite the whole process of bringing in a swack of submissions, creating a fanfare for the project, and ostensibly celebrating Google’s tenth birthday, the search giant is oddly quiet. It’s like the project has just… stopped.

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Steve Jobs Changes Tune on iPhone 4 Reception

There’s no denying Apple’s iPhone 4 launch went very well. More than 1.5 million units were sold over the first few days around the globe, but the launch was far from flawless.

Reception issues stole much of Apple’s thunder as users noticed when they placed their fingers over the built-in antennas the signal would drop substantially. Steve Jobs told the masses they had two choices, change how they hold the iPhone or else buy a case. The response didn’t sit well with users. Now it looks as though Jobs is changing his tune.

Steve Job’s new stance is there is no reception issue. A MacRumour reader emailed Jobs asking if Apple was willing to give free cases to those affected. Jobs emailed him back saying “There is no reception issue. Stay Tuned”.

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FaceTime Leads to SexyTime!

You knew it was going to happen! Well guess what…it did. FaceTime will soon be “SexyTime” as entrepreneurs find ways to turn the new service into a money maker.

A Craigslist ad has popped up offering women a free iPhone 4 and competitive salary if they would be willing to let loose on video chat calls. Take a look at the ad below:

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