Burning Hot: Hyperloop, Uber in Africa and the BlackBerry Q10

Imagine a future where you could jump on a supersonic transportation system and get picked up by a luxury private car service that you’ve booked on a BlackBerry that you’re actually happy to own.

Well as this week’s Burning Hot shows, that future could be a lot closer than it seems.

First up is that super-sonic transportation system. Elon Musk unveiled his Alpha plans for his Hyperloop project this week. After months of speculation, it turns out it’s sort of like a train in an elevated, low pressure tube. Except it runs on skis held up by pockets of air. So far, it’s just plans and Musk says he doesn’t have any intention of building it himself. Here’s hoping someone will.

Luxury private car service Uber meanwhile has been around for a while, although its operations have been limited to just a few countries. Now though, it’s expanding aggressively across the globe. The latest market to get a taste of Uber is South Africa, with secret test rides taking place around Johannesburg.

As for booking Uber on a BlackBerry you’d actually want to own, the BlackBerry Q10 means at least one part of that vision has come to pass. After Gearburn editor Steven Norris’ previous experiences with BlackBerry devices, we were worried about the Q10. It turns out though that it delivers in spades and shows that the Qwerty phone may not be dead just yet.