Android Also Tracking Location, Ok Go GPS Art, Synthetic Brain Cells, And More...

Google Responds To Tracking Concerns

Android location tracking is opt-in, according to Google. Additionally, "Any location data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user," said a company statement.

"Google Rumored Preparing $10/Month Chrome OS Laptop Rentals "

As soon as this Summer, Google might rent out Chrome OS laptops for a small monthly fee. [Update: 10:30 PM PST]

Android Tracking Location Data, Too

Those with Android-based smartphones who thought they were safe from Apple's recently discovered location-tracking program should think again. Android is collecting GPS coordinates, too, heightening privacy concerns from lawmakers.

The Military Conscripts Android

The military will begin testing out Android as the mobile operating system to power the 21st century soldier. Apps will include a mapping program and a way to distinguish friends from enemies on the battlefield. (So, some tracking's ok, then.)

Ok Go, Range Rover Makes Sweet, Sweet GPS Love

Not all tracking's nefarious. Some is fun! Video music pioneers, Ok Go, have released a new video with Range Rover (synergy!) with "GPS art," tracking the elaborate movements of citizens throughout a city and overlaying the lines in a trippy neon outline. Swinging his cell phone, Ok Go's Damian Kulash said, "The city is our canvass; this is our brush".

"A Synthetic Brain Synapse Is Constructed From Carbon Nanotubes "

Scientists have created a synthetic tube that acts like a neuron, the electrically charged cells that make up much of the brain's communication system.

Sources: Read Write Web, The Wall Street Journal, Digital Trends, Mashable, PopSci

[Image: Youtube user helloevoque]