Hoverboard

A Hoverboard (Also known as Hover Board) is a floating board invented in 2008, that is commonly used for travel or sport among younger penguins. It has a solar powered propulsion system. As of 2013, the average price for a hoverboard is 3500 CPC, although the prices go all the way up to 6000 CPC depending on what your hoverboard entails. In recent years they have quickly overtaken "traditional" transportation, such as skateboards and longboards in popularity in some places, while other places see them as dangerous and have restricted their usage and ownership or made them illegal entirely.

Creation
In 2008, it is said that a few very intelligent Yowien penguins got together and built the first ever "Hover Board", quoted by them as being "flying skateboards!" Their story soon rose to prominence in Yowien national news, and demand to buy the new technology skyrocketed. A few days later is when crowds/riots started appearing outside of their "headquarters" (one of the member's igloos), and that is also when international news started to slowly pick up the story.

The first official Hover Board (the first one sold) only "hovered" an inch off of the ground, and had a max speed of 4 miles per hour. There were still many flaws, such as energy requirements, and low power; if a Fat penguin got on a board, or if an average size penguin leaned too much on a board, it would rub on the ground.

Hoverboard
With the international news came a lot of competition, fast. Although the original inventors were smart, they never expected all of the competition they would have. The inventors had only flipper-built about 50 units (charged at 8000 CPC per unit) before new companies started popping up. The first company, Hover Board International (abbreviated as HBI) was founded only a month after the initial release of the Hover Board! The founders of that company went to Gary, who had experience with with hovercraft technology, right after they saw the first news report. Within a few weeks, the three penguins had made an almost identical product, but with a bit better technology (charging only 7000 CPC per unit). They also were smart enough to get international patents on the name "Hover Board" as soon as they went to see Gary.

Just three months after the initial release of the homemade Hover Board, Ed Labs released their own line of "Hoverboards", priced at 5000 CPC per unit.

Evolution
Over the years, many new designs, features, and prices were put into use, such as cup holders and solar power (introduced and patented by HBI and Ed Labs, respectively). In 2010, a different kind of hoverboard was invented in the form of Xtreme Gear. Instead of being powered by jet propulsion, Xtreme Gear is powered by gravity chips. Unlike Hoverboards that are mainly used for short-term transport, Xtreme Gear is known for primarily being used for sport. Xtreme Gear also has the least complicated of the three large companies' models, essentially being a gravity and anti-gravity chip on a wooden board. Because of this simpler design, Xtreme Gear is much cheaper than its competition, costing slightly more than 1300 coins for a standard board. It is also common for Xtreme-style boards to be homemade and customized, as it often only requires a trip to the junkyard, and some gravity chips.

In 2013, after The Great Yowien War and Yow's fall, HBI sold out their company to the Culldrom government, who moved the production facilities to Circuit Valley. Culldrom scientists also started to experiment with the boards, trying to upgrade the speed and downgrade the energy usage.

Hover Board International
Founded in 2008, this business formerly headquartered in Yow is now a subsidiary of the Culldrom government.

In 2009, they introduced a variety of designs for Boards, including: Puffle Skulls, Pink Lava, Computer Geek, Pink Princess and Wild Blue Puffle. In 2012, they produced the first "leisure" Hover Board by including a cupholder, six extra inches of length, and a place to put your MP3000 so you can listen to music. These "leisure" boards (without special designs) cost about 1000 coins more than regular boards, and are quite unpopular since they can't be used for sport (the cupholder gets in the way), the additional cost, along with the fact that nobody travels long distances using them, making the "leisure" idea useless. Production of the "leisure" boards was cut in half in late 2013.

Although Ed Labs has a patent for using solar power to power Hover Boards, the company found a way around that in 2014. They added solar panels to their Boards, however the panels store power in a small battery connected to the board. That is different than Ed Island's method, as these boards can still be used without sunlight for a few hours rather than a few minutes (based on how much power has been stored in the battery).

HBI is the main producer of Hover Boards, competing directly with Ed Labs.

Ed Laboratories
Ed Labs started to produce Hoverboards two months after HBI was founded in Yow, however in that extra two months they increased the quality of their product as well, making it hover about six inches off of the ground, and go up to speeds of eight miles an hours.

They don't care about the "style" of the boards as much as they do the functionality. In 2011, after reportedly working on a new design for a year, Ed Labs released the "Hoverboard 2.0", which now had a solar panels rather than a battery, as well as a new top speed of twelve miles per hour and a capped height of eight inches off of the ground when hovering (for Fat penguins).

As of mid-2014 they have upgraded their products, so that any hoverboard can go up to a max speed of 20 mph. Older units can be sent in to Ed Labs to be re-calibrated to match the 20 mph speed.

Gravity Inc.
Xtreme Gear, occasionally called "Gravity Boards", were created by Gravity Inc. in 2010. They are much cheaper to produce and buy than the competing Hoverboards, only costing about 1300 coins for a basic board. Xtreme Gear is mostly bought and used for sport, specifically Xtreme Gear/Hoverboard racing. Because of this, the boards are often customized either by Gravity Inc or the user. Common customization seen on Xtreme Gear include graffiti, wings, and rocket boosters for additional speed.

These are the most publicized hoverboards because they cause more injuries to the users than both of their main competitors, mainly due to being mostly used in sports as well as many injuries reported from homemade boards. This has prompted the question of legality in many countries for all hoverboards.

Other companies
As with any product that has a large demand, there are numerous smaller ripoff companies that sell "flying boards", "hover planks", etc., but none of them stand up to the quality and fame of the top three companies.

Pros and Cons of owning a Hoverboard
Ever wondered what some of the perks would be for owning a hoverboard? Well, here's a neat list just for you!

Pros

 * You can use them to perform tricks, similar to skateboards/longboards.
 * Average sized boards can fit in a backpack (Note: They may poke out of the backpack a few inches).
 * Most boards have a max speed of over 10 mph, so you can quickly travel to school or work!
 * During traffic jams, you can hover between cars instead of waiting for the jam to clear up.
 * Are you worried about stepping in that mud, water, lava, etc? No worries, just hop on your board and hover right over it!
 * Be the coolest creature your friends know by owning a sleek, cool hoverboard!

Cons

 * Most hoverboards only fit one penguin or two puffles or two crabs, or one penguin and one puffle if you're lucky.
 * Fellow creatures may be jealous of you, and try to steal the hoverboard from you.
 * It's not very efficient for long-distance travelling.

Criticism, legality and usage
As for legality, hoverboards are as legal as longboards and roller skates in most countries. However, there are some that require special conditions to own a hoverboard, or hoverboards are illegal altogether.


 * In Snowzerland and its overseas Provinces, the purchase, ownership, and usage of the hoverboard is illegal. Only the military and special government officials are allowed to use it. It is believed to be banned because the technology was invented by Yowiens, however no official statement has been made regarding the issue.
 * Castilla, Frankterre, Lisboagal, Rusca, and Batavia have made an agreement to restrict the usage of the hovercraft by banning it in pedestrian zones and on freeways. Politicians in these countries are debating about banning the hovercraft in their countries due to it being a "threat to personal and public safety". They claim that the hoverboard is extremely prone to abuse, and any accidents such as falling off the board in mid flight can lead to fatal injuries. Therefore, all owners of hoverboards must be at least 21 years old and must wear a safety helmet at all times. In addition, before purchasing a hovercraft one must also purchase a special license. The United Provinces and Candvia also implemented the same measures, with the exception hoverboard owners must be 18 years old rather than 21.
 * Although no official statements have been made by the Shopper government about hoverboards, many officials, such as Chill, Penquino and Bro have made comments about how useful it is. FreezeShop, owned by current Vice President Chill, even sells hoverboards. In fact, many members of the government own hoverboards (look below to see who specifically). It is also rumored that hundreds of hoverboards were purchased from Ed Labs for quick travel methods for on-base soldiers and pilots.
 * Due to being made on Ed Island and being popular on Shops Island, hoverboards have become popular across the Axle Powers, for consumers and Axle government/military usage. Mostly used are the hoverboards from Ed Labs.
 * Hockey Manlet considers hoverboards "mondo cool" and allows them to be sold and used in Achadia.

Owners
Roleplay: If you own a hoverboard, put your review here!

Here are some known hoverboard owners:


 * Chill57181
 * E-114
 * Feey1
 * Jiwei15
 * Penstubal
 * Penquino
 * Slidur
 * Feel free to add your own character.

Trivia

 * Most hoverboards are approximately two feet long, and one foot across.
 * There are two patented names for what is basically the same device. Hover Board and Hoverboard.
 * Some regions that know it as the Hover Board include: All regions of the former Yow Kingdom, and Puffle'and.
 * Some regions that know it as the Hoverboard include: Ed Island and it's territories, the USA, Shops Island and some of its territories.
 * Another name used is Houver Board, which is used in Calada.


 * It is based on the real fictitious item.