Joby

Joby Aviation has been beavering away hammering out the designs and flight dynamics of its awesome-looking tilt-rotor eVTOL for more than 10 years. Now, Joby's got half a billion dollars in the bank thanks to a huge investment led by Toyota.

Flying taxis still seem very much like something pulled right out of science fiction, but when transport heavyweights like Boeing, Airbus and Uber start pumping millions of dollars into their development, it might be time to take all of this a bit more seriously.

A lot of money is being pumped into air taxi concepts, with the likes of Boeing, Airbus and NASA all investing heavily in such vehicles. The latest company to find themselves on the receiving end is Joby Aviation, with US$100 million in fresh funding to forge ahead with its all-electric aircraft.

Fresh from disrupting the taxi industry and charging ahead with autonomous cars, Uber is looking to add 170-mph electric VTOL air taxis to its on-demand transport mix. Here are the key points from Uber's fantastic 97-page Elevate white paper.

Joby has launched a new tripod mount for tablets. The GripTight GorillaPod Stand Pro for Tablet lets you position your slate whether shooting photos and videos, or bingeing on Netflix. We recently spent a bit of time with one ahead of its release, to try it out.

The awesome Joby S2 operates like a 2-seater manned multicopter drone, that takes off and lands vertically but converts to a fixed wing by folding away its tilting rotors for long-range, high speed commuting.

The Joby Action Jib Kit and Pole Pack is designed to make it easier for users to recreate cinematic-style camera movements – from low angle shots to birds-eye perspectives – with their action camera. The jib is the latest addition to the Joby's Action Series of action camera accessories.

The Joby Action Grip and Pole are a set of accessories aimed at action camera users who don't necessarily want to mount a camera to their head or skateboard. Gizmag recently spent a bit of time with the new gear to see what it can offer.

While GoPro has become the best-known name in actioncams, Joby's GorillaPod is likely the most popular "do-anything" tripod out there. It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, to hear that Joby has just announced three new products, designed specifically with the GoPro HERO in mind.

There's no shortage of mini tripods out there to help stabilize your smartphone when shooting photos or video. But, while many are designed for specific handsets, the MPod Mini Stand from Joby works with most smartphones thanks to its elastic jaws.

The Joby UltraPlate is a new universal quick-release plate which enables photographers to attach both a tripod and a shoulder strap to their camera.

Joby has released two iPad stands at this year's CES in Las Vegas, the Yogi is somewhat akin to its Gorillapod bendy device support and the Ori offers some seriously clever folding action.