Top 5 Flying Car-esque Android Gadgets You Wish Existed (and their closest real life equivalents!)

We’re not unreasonable people. As official citizens of the future, we have just a few things that we absolutely have to have in order to not cry shenanigans on science for cheating us out of the gadgets we deserve for our future citizenship. Oh, and we also want to do it all on Android, because why not right?

Well we might not have all of these things yet exactly, but there are a few equivalent gadgets on Android that can get kind of close sometimes-

5) Replicator

On Star Trek, Picard would always go this replicator, say “Earl Gray, Hot” and presto-the device would just make it for him seemingly out of thin air. Just imagine if you could fire up the “Replicator” app on your Android, wait for the little mic icon to come on, and then say something like “Money, lots of it.” Then money would just shoot out of a slot on the top. Or, in a slightly less economy destroying move, maybe you’d say “A new house!” and bricks would then start flying everywhere in ordered chaos around you.

Here’s a start to the dream anyway:

The 3D Printer

Example- (Makerdroid-)

So this won’t let you actually print anything you want, like money, or food. And you need access to a 3D printer, such as at a college lab, for it to work. But you can draw anything you want on the Android app, and the app will let you use a 3D printer to print it out on a three dimensional medium- like wood. Essentiallly, you dream it up, and science gives you a real object, just like that.

It’s not quite getting tea from nothing, but hey, we’re getting there right? And quick side note- scientists are using 3D technology printers right now to experiment with doing stuff like actually printing out human organs for transplants, so maybe Earl Gray, Hot- isn’t as impossible as we might think.

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4) X-Ray Glasses

Why not right? You could just activate the camera on your phone, click the “X-ray” button, which would be like right next to “low lighting” and then look around and look right through walls. Why would you need to do this? 

Because it’d be awesome.

How about-Google Glasses-

These are like an Android phone except on your face. They aren't available to consumers yet, but soon.

No, these won’t let you perv out looking under people’s clothing, (come on X-rays don’t work like that anyway), but just think what you could do with them? For example, you could use a public camera phone app to look in the direction of a building, switch to the camera app, and then see live video of what's inside. It'd be exactly like being able to see right through the walls. And even better than that, you could monitor a bunch of different ones all at the same time, all live in your glasses vision. And if you can't wait, there are other options as well. Such as these cool wrap-arounds-Vuzix Wrap 920 Video Eyewear which I desperately want myself.

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3) Holographic Assistant

So you press a button, and bam, standing before you is a holographic person, ready to do whatever mundane activities you’re too busy playing video games to do. You know, like call your mother, take out the trash, stitch you up from laser burns, you know basic stuff.

Close Enough?

Android Voice Assistant-If you haven’t  yet, you should meet EVA. It’s a loose equivalent of Evi for the iPhone, and it is the closest the world has to offer currently for your very own artificially intelligent computer assistant. You can hit a button on your bluetooth, and just ask it questions directly, or have it schedule meetings, set alarms, activate phone calls, and a hundred other things. Finally, a slice of the future that isn’t lame.

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2) Sonic Screw Driver App

Your phone is pocket sized right? And it can do… frequencies, and stuff. So why can’t you use it just like a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who? You know-any time you encounter a locked door, lights that needed turning on or off, or really any other electronic wizadry, just whip out your uh, gadget, and one whirring noise and a blue LED light flash later, presto it makes stuff work. No uncouth walking across the room to flick a light switch, or actually knocking on a door for you! You’re from the future.

While obviously the phrase “sonic screwdriver” makes about as much sense as “magnetic hammer,” there’s got to due the same kind of interfacing with another gadget right, like your Android phone. Imagine firing up the apps on your Android and click on “Sonic Screwdriver.” How cool would that be right?

This actually exists- OK, it’s not really the same. You have to do a bunch of set up and get the right equipment and all that- and you can’t just magic on gadgets you don’t own willy nilly like in the show- but come on, details.

The point is, SmartLinc will make you feel like a techno wizard. You need to use it in connection with Insteon devices listed on the SmartLinc site- but if you do, you can control your home entertainment, remote cameras, lights, and anything else Insteon compatible with just a click from you phone. And if you have a fetish for unlocking doors, there’s a comparable app called Lockitron.You can also pretend to be a techno weather wizard with a wireless thermostat like this one- Nest Learning Thermostat - 2nd Generation T200577

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1) Portable Flying Car

Jetpack aside, it’s practically the biggest anthem of futurism detractors- “Where’s my damn flying car already?!”

The Jetsons had a suitcase that could turn into a flying car, so why not an Android app? Just imagine you push a button on your phone, and it transforms into a giant metal flying car that looks like an oversize Android phone! You'd get out of that traffic jam then, for sure.

Closest Thing –

Zipcar-While you can’t quite create a car from your Android, or summon one, how about summoning a normal car? No matter where you are, once you sign up for Zipcar you can trot down or get a ride from a local buddy to a zipcar, drive where you need to go, and then “unsummon” it by bringing it back to its original location.

Not quite as good as carrying it around in a suitcase, I admit, but you will seriously fee like you are made of pure science magic when you approach a car you reserved on your phone, and then unlock the doors by pressing a button right from the Android app. Not quite a remote control car-summoning power, but pretty close, you have to admit.

But I want a flying car.

Easy there, Mcfly. One thing I should say is that insting on a flying car is kind of like insisting on a submarine train. Think about that for a second, do you find yourself pining for a submarine that can leap out of the ocean, and then run on railroad tracks? This is kind of like what you’re saying when talking about a “flying” car. So my question is-

Why? You have a car, you have planes, why does it have to do both?

But OK, OK. You win. If you just want something that can go from place A to place B in the air without messing around with landing runways-how about a personal helicopter? It’ll only set you back 100k, and you don’t even have to wait for red lights.