Gadgetory

Marty McFly never had to worry about exploding hoverboards I'm Bridget Carey this is your scene that update this year's hot holiday gift is just way too hot for some companies to touch and buy hot I mean fire and explosion go boom hot you may know it as a hoverboard or a balance board but there are now some safety concerns with these mixes between a skateboard and a Segway in some models the lithium-ion batteries are Catching Fire and it could be because some are poorly made overstock is no longer selling hoverboards and it appears that amazon is pulling some of these hoverboard products until the sellers can provide documents that prove they meet safety standards one popular brand called swagway shared a statement with a few media outlets about this now swagway is cost around four hundred dollars and they're cheaper than most high-end brands that can go for around fifteen hundred dollars but there are knockoffs being sold for three hundred or two hundred dollars and you need to stay away from those the government is now getting involved the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is currently investigating these products after reports of hoverboard fires and several major US airlines are now also banning it from carry-on or checked baggage in fear of them Catching Fire if you want to be safe remember that a price that's too good to be true usually is and you may want to buy directly from the manufacturers website to check that it means safety standards and if there's a warranty because the higher quality brands that go through safety checks do offer warranties now also watch the weight limits and don't write if you weigh more than the limit and if you do get one for a gift please take it slow he needs more practice and there's another big tech gift expected to cost some drama this year drones if you get a drone as a gift you're gonna need to register it with the government and this is not just for new drones it applies to anyone who already owns one the Federal Aviation Administration said that US residents must register drones online and you can start as early as next week Monday it's free if you register by January 20th but after that there's a $5 fee failure to register a drone can result in a fine even if it's a small quadcopter you only fly in the backyard it applies to anything weighing about half a pound 255 pounds there are fines if you don't register a civil penalty could be as high as twenty seven thousand five hundred dollars and there's a time limit for anything purchased this week or earlier you're gonna have until February 19th and you have to renew the registration every three years yeah that's another $5 fee each time the FAA is doing this to keep a tighter watch on how people are using the airspace because this year the FAA had more than 1100 reports of potentially unsafe drone use that's it for this tech news update there's always more at cnet.com from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey