Tech expert Kurt Knutsson discusses Joby Aviation and Virgin Atlantic planning to launch 200-mph U.K. air taxis linking airports and cities. Imagine skipping the gridlock and soaring over the English countryside, arriving at your destination in a fraction of the time. What sounds like a scene from a futuristic movie is about to become a reality in the U.K., thanks to a partnership between Joby Aviation, a California-based company, and Virgin Atlantic. They're teaming up to introduce electric air taxis to the U.K., revolutionizing how people travel between airports and nearby cities. Let's take a closer look at this development that could foreshadow the future of transportation here in the U.S. Get security alerts & expert tech tips – sign up for Kurt's The CyberGuy Report now. Joby Aviation's innovative aircraft are at the heart of this transportation revolution.

Uber has sold its loss-making flying taxi division, Elevate, to a Californian startup as it abandons costly side projects in an attempt to turn a profit next year. The sale to Joby Aviation, announced late on Tuesday, comes a day after Uber ditched ambitions to develop its own self-driving car and sold its autonomous vehicle division, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), to the startup Aurora Innovation for $4bn (£3bn). Uber and Joby described the Elevate sale as an "expanded partnership". It will result in Uber investing an additional $75m (£56m) in Joby. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's chief executive, said: "Advanced air mobility has the potential to be exponentially positive for the environment and future generations. This deal allows us to deepen our partnership with Joby, the clear leader in this field, to accelerate the path to market for these technologies."

Two start-ups leading the race to build the first self-flying taxis are using money from the US military. Last year, Kitty Hawk and Joby Aviation received a total of nearly $2m from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), a Pentagon organization founded to help America's military make faster use of emerging technologies. Neither company, nor the DIUx, disclosed the funding at the time. The website for Cora, Kitty Hawk's experimental air taxi, emphasizes its role in solving urban transportation challenges: "Cora is about the time you could save soaring over traffic. The people you could visit.

Two start-ups leading the race to build the first self-flying taxis are using money from the US military. Last year, Kitty Hawk and Joby Aviation received a total of nearly $2m from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), a Pentagon organization founded to help America's military make faster use of emerging technologies. Neither company, nor the DIUx, disclosed the funding at the time. The website for Cora, Kitty Hawk's experimental air taxi, emphasizes its role in solving urban transportation challenges: "Cora is about the time you could save soaring over traffic. The people you could visit.

Your Uber journeys could be about to get a lot more exciting. The firm's chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, says the firm will roll out self-flying taxis in the next five to 10 years. Uber is currently developing an airborne version of its ride-hailing app, called UberAIR, which is expected to launch in 2020. The morning commute may soon get a little more exciting, if predictions about flying taxis made by Uber's chief come to pass. Khosrowshahi made the claims while speaking at an investor forum in Tokyo today.

Several companies are already working on flying car prototypes. NEW YORK -- While most of the auto industry is focused on getting self-driving cars rolling, Uber already has its eyes set to the skies. In a white paper published this week, the company detailed plans for Uber Elevate, its new division for offering rides through flying cars. The company hopes to have the program up and running within a decade. In addition to being incredibly cool, Uber stresses the many benefits of this method of transportation in this new mode of transportation, time saving being the biggest.

Three years ago, Silicon Valley developed a fleeting infatuation with a startup called Zee.Aero. The company had set up shop right next to Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., which was curious, because Google tightly controls most of the land in the area. Then a reporter spotted patent filings showing Zee.Aero was working on a small, all-electric plane that could take off and land vertically--a flying car. In the handful of news articles that ensued, all the startup would say was that it wasn't affiliated with Google or any other technology company. Then it stopped answering media inquiries altogether. Employees say they were even given wallet-size cards with instructions on how to deflect questions from reporters. After that, the only information that trickled out came from amateur pilots, who occasionally posted pictures of a strange-looking plane taking off from a nearby airport. Trump Says'No Reason' to Raise 1 Billion for Campaign Turns out, Zee.Aero doesn't belong to Google or its holding company, Alphabet.