Google Android 4.3 Update: Bluetooth, Profiles, and Other Minor Stuff

Google is continuing the Jelly Bean reign with today's Android 4.3 update. It's shipping with the new Nexus 7, and is for the most part, very incremental.

Here's what's up: Google is adding restricted profiles, which are basically just more comprehensive parental controls. It forces an app to behave differently, based on what a parent has set up. So if a child is playing a game, you can say he or she can only see a couple of levels, for example.Restricted profiles also let you set limits on transactions, or web browsing, or other things you're using your device for.

Android 4.3 also features some Bluetooth updates that let you pair an Android device with low-power gadgets like fitness trackers. Got a FitBit? You can hook it up to your Nexus 7 to monitor your performance.

Additionally, Android 4.3 is getting a refresh on something called Open GL:ES 3.0. It's a big boost for graphics that mostly applies for gamers. It'll make everything on screen look better, more detailed, and render quickly in native 1080p resolution. More here.

A New Kind of Microchip Mimics the Human Brain in Real Time

A team of scientists in Switzerland has managed to cram 11,011 electrodes onto a single two-millimeter-by-two-millimeter piece of silicon to create a microchip that works just like an actual brain. The best part about this so-called neuromorphic chips? They can feel.

Don't over interpret the word "feel" though. The brain-like microchips built by scientists at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich are not a sentient beings, but they can carry out complex sensorimoter tasks that show off the network's cognitive abilities. And what's more impressive is that all of this happens in real time. Previous brain-like computer systems have been slower and larger, whereas the Swiss system is comparable to an actual brain in both speed and size. That's exactly what the team was trying to do. "Our goal is to emulate the properties of biological neurons and synapses directly on microchips," says University of Zurich professor Giacomo Indiveri.

The next step for these neuromorphic chips is to take on more and more complex tasks. In a paper published this week by the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers who built the chips suggest that they could connect the neuromorphic chips to sensory systems like an artificial retina. This is somewhat of a fascination for the community of scientists trying to build a brain-like computer. Stanford professor Kwabena Boahen rose to prominence after developing a silicon retina that behaved like a biological retina, and since then, he's been working on ways to mimic the brain using artificial circuits. More here.

This Is What Gravity Looks Like

You can't see gravity, right? It's just an invisible, natural force of attraction, created by mass, yeah? Well, almost—but in this image you can see its effects in still and breathtaking glory.

The ripples in the clouds of this images are known as gravity waves. NASA explains exactly what they are:

Offshore and to the west and southwest of Pukaskwa National Park, several distinct sets of parallel cloud bands are visible. Gravity waves are produced when moisture-laden air encounters imbalances in air density, such as might be expected when cool air flows over warmer air. This can cause the flowing air to oscillate up and down as it moves, causing clouds to condense as the air rises and cools and to evaporate away as the air sinks and warms. This produces parallel bands of clouds oriented perpendicular to the wind direction. The orientation of the cloud bands in this image, parallel to the coastlines, suggests that air flowing off of the land surfaces to the north is interacting with moist, stable air over the lake surface, creating gravity waves.

Thanks, gravity: as well as keeping us on the ground, you make the world a prettier place, too. More here.

This Might Be Your Home Security System of The Future

So what's inside? All of this:

• HD Camera w/ Night Vision and 170 degree wide angle lens

• Wi-Fi

• High quality microphone speaker
• Siren 

• RGB LEDs
• 
3-axis accelerometer

• Motion detection (Passive Infrared)
• Temperature sensor
• Humidity sensor 

• Air quality sensor

Not a bad mix but where Canary has the potential to really shine is in its software offering. By tapping into all the aforementioned sensors, the Canary app will be able to relay a plethora of information in real-time and learn a thing or two about you. More here.

There's a Beautiful Chair Hiding in Your Washing Machine

You can sit on a washing machine, but that doesn't make it a chair. A transformation like the one industrial designer Antonina pulled off does make it a chair, though. And there are even DIY instructions so you can try too, if you're into that sort of thing.

As part of a project with the incredibly appropriate title "I used to be a washing machine," Antonina carefully dissected and old washer to make not one, not two, but three different flavors of chair, each a wonderfully stark piece of furniture in its finished form.

While all washers are going to have different innards, it stands to reason most of them would be kinda-sorta similar enough to pull something like this off. It also stands to reason that none of us will really bother trying. You can hop over to Designboom to look at the plans and see what it would be like if you did, though. 

You Can Download VLC for iPhone and iPad Now

Hey now! VLC, the bestest fastest sweetest codec-iest easiest to usiest and every positive -est adjectie there is video player around, is now available (again) on iOS. If you're looking to play videos on your iPhone and iPad, VLC is probably going to be your best bet.

MacStories spent some time with the new VLC app and though it looks pretty much the same, it's supposed to be improved:

VLC has been completely rewritten to use modern audio and video output modules, multi-core decoding, and support for any file type supported by VLC on the desktop. In my tests, the app was able to quickly start playing any video file that I threw at it, such as .mp4 and .mkv files.

The app also lets you adjust playback speed, tweak brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. and supports subtitles. It's a welcome return to VLC which was kicked out of the App Store in the beginning of 2011. More here.

A Private Venture Wants to Build a Telescope on the Moon

There might not be a man on the moon right now—but there may soon be a gazing eye. A new private venture aims to build a long-range telescope on our planet's little satellite, and it could happen as soon 2016.

A partnership between Moon Express, Inc. and the International Lunar Observatory Association is all set to install the telescope on the humble lump of rock. The plan is to position the 2-meter dish antenna, known as the International Lunar Observatory, on the rim of a crater near the moon’s South pole.

The first step will be a proof-of-concept mission, which will see the partnership take a shoebox-sized device called ILO-X to the moon in 2015. If that's successful, the full-size telescope will follow early the next year.

The aim of the project is to provide new views of the universe—but the plan is to democratize star gazing, too. Data from the telescopes will be made freely available online for use by citizen scientists. But don't be entirely taken in by the good vibes—Moon Express admits that it's going to explore the area around the South pole for minerals and water while it's at it, too. More here.

How Retail Stores Track You Using Your Smartphone

A Mechanical Wooden Pencil That Will Never Go Dull

As low-tech as it may be, the pencil has managed to still keep itself relevant—despite the endless graphite-free ways we can communicate these days. That being said, it doesn't mean it couldn't use an upgrade, and Tous Les Jours has managed to combine the convenience of a mechanical pencil with the feel of a traditional wooden writing instrument.

You never have to sharpen it, and as long as you keep feeding it shafts of graphite it will never go dull. And for an added bit of whimsy, the days of the week are printed on the sides of the $7 pencil with suggestions on how to best seize the day. More here.

All Those Open Browser Tabs Really Are Killing Your Laptop's Battery

There's a ton of info on the web. You're never going to read it all, but you want to, so your browser has fistfuls of open tabs waiting for that rainy day when you'll want to read a two-month-old article that's no longer relevant to anything. But have you ever wondered what all those tabs are doing to your battery life? Wired's Rhett Allain did, so he measured it for Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

The bottom line is this: on Allain's Macbook Pro, 100 tabs decreased battery life by one hour, while (hypothetically) 24,000 tabs would drain the battery completely in just one minute. The full article has great graphs and some imposing looking formulas, and you should really open a new tab and read the whole thing. More here.

This Motion-Sensing Tingling Spidey-Sense Tee Has Got Your Back

Taking the geeky fanboy t-shirt to a whole new level, ThinkGeek's just added this wonderful Spiderman tee to its collection that actually gives the wearer a Spidey-sense for when danger approaches from behind. But instead of a radioactive spider bite, a proximity sensor clipped to the back of the shirt provides the superpowers.

After all, no one in their right mind would ever turn down superpowers. But they always come with a catch: horrible mutations, deceased loved ones, tacky costumes. This is the best of both worlds, a stylish black tee and a side-effect free sensor that vibrates at varying speeds as someone gets closer than five feet behind you. It sadly won't be available until October, and will set you back $40, but that's a small price to pay for not having to face any personal demons. More here.

Astronomers Found a New Moon of Neptune--Hidden in Images From 2009

Astronomers have spotted a new moon orbiting Neptune—the first to be discovered in over a decade—by studying images that were archived all the way back in 2009.

The new moon, known as S/2004 N1,was discovered in images acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope. Mark Showalter, based at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California,stumbled across the moon when studying images taken in 2009.

Showalter was actually studying images of Neptune's rings, which are incredibly faint. But instead of using long exposures, he stacked multiple, short exposures on top of each other—and out leapt the moon, clear as day. His team confirmed the finding by studying images acquired back in 2004, too.

The new moon has a nearly circular orbit, and travels around the planet once every 23 hours. But scientists are now scratching their heads over the finding. The moon is so small—just 20 kilometers across—that the astronomers are surprised it managed to survive the chaotic period when Neptune's other moons formed. As New Scientist explains:

Neptune's biggest moon, Triton, is 2705 kilometres wide and orbits backwards – travelling in the opposite direction to the planet's spin. Its large size and wonky orbit led astronomers to believe that Triton was captured by Neptune's gravity about 4 billion years ago and that it destroyed whatever moons the gas giant originally had as it was settling into its new home.

Apart from its slightly baffling existence, there remains one more question, too: what name will it take? It's currently up for grabs, but Neptune's moons are typically named for minorwater deities in Greek mythology—so expect something suitably aquatic. More here.

It's Ok To Spend Your Day Staring At the Clock When It Looks This Good

It's hard to justify wasting an inch of deskspace on a clock when your watch, your phone, your computer, even the coffeemaker can tell you what time it is. But then you lay your eyes upon the O'Clock from Okum Made and realize there's still a place for traditional time tellers. At least ones that look this good.

Made from a solid block of walnut, maple, douglas fir, or cork, the O'Clock ranges in price from $85 to $98 depending on the type of wood that suits your fancy. The half donut-shaped recess that represents the clock's face is carved using a bowl-nosed drill bit, while a set of simple wooden hands complements the aesthetic.

They're not cheap, that's for sure. But if you find working dragging on every day, at least you'll have a lovely place to point your vacant stare. More here.

This Lego Microscope Actually Works

This working Lego microscope was built by Carl Merriman, a Lego artist who's been building for over 27 years. It's sleek, functional and even though you couldn't use it to study Ebola or the T-Virus, it's still a pretty sweet piece of kit.

The build was inspired by Lego X-Pod sets (now discontinued):

While trying to find a use for the pod itself, I realized that it was very close to a deep petri dish. I used a planetary gear system to allow both coarse and fine adjustment of the objective “lens”. A little more tinkering and I connected the focus to a magnifying glass and fiber optic light in the eyepiece, so adjusting the focus knobs would actually bring the writing on a LEGO stud in and out of focus.

Clean lines, simple construction and wonderful little details. I could totally see this becoming a CUUSOO set. More here.

Apple's Next-Gen Chips Will Be Made By Samsung Again

Apple's had a turbulent time with Samsung, both in the courtroom and the marketplace—which in part helped inspire Cook and co's recent move away from Sammy as a chip supplier. But according to a new report, Apple is hopping back into the silicon bed with South Korea's finest.

The Korea Economic Daily reports that Apple has signed a deal with Samsung which will see them work together on future A-series chips for Apple's iOS devices. Specifically, the agreement appears to be for the production of A9 chips (the iPhone 5 currently uses the A6), which will be based on a new 14-nanometer manufacturing process, and begin production sometime in 2015.

The announcement comes on the back of Apple shunning Samsung in favor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), who it chose to manufacture the forthcoming A8 chips from 2014. The Korea Economic Daily explains:

Samsung Electronics had supplied the AP [application processor] to Apple since 2007 but lost the contract to supply 20 nano AP A8 chips to Apple to Taiwan's TSMC last year when it was engaged in patent disputes with Apple. Samsung Electronics developed state-of-the-art 14 nano models ahead of its rival TSMC, regaining the order from Apple.

Some reports have suggested that TSMC had also secured the contract for the A9 chips, though—so it's unclear if Apple will be sourcing silicon from one or both of the chip manufacturers comes 2015. More here.

BlackBerry's Rumored A10 Is a Departure, At Least

While me and you and everyone we know weren't paying attention, BlackBerry invented a nice big shiny new phone, the A10. It's definitely different! And at this point, that might be just what BlackBerry needs.There aren't many details available from the video other than that the A10 is a decidedly bigger phone than the Z10; for specs, we have to look to a previous report that indicated a 5-inch, 720p display. 

That's not great for a flagship these days, but if BlackBerry can make the A10 affordable and powerful under the hood, it's still at least got a shot to get some notice. At least, one hopes so. The company may only have so many rounds of ammo left. More here.

A Swiss Man Was Killed By His Remote-Controlled Helicopter

A 41-year-old man flying a Gaui X7 model helicopter in Lucerne, Switzerland suffered head and arm injuries and died after he was presumably struck by the helicopter. The model weighs 5 pounds, is about 4 feet 5 inches long, and has a rotor diameter of about 5 feet 4 inches.

Though incidents are rare, remote control helicopters have caused other deaths. A remote control aircraft instructor was struck and killed in Texas in 2003 and other fatal accidents have occurred in Korea and Brazil. The rotor blades on model helicopters can spin at speedsof 257 miles per hour. Gaui helicopters can cost more than $1,000 and various X7 models are currently selling for around $900, so there probably aren't tons of these just lying around people's houses, but even expensive toys require real safety measures. More here.

What Would We Do If Aliens Just Showed Up Tomorrow?

Almost Everything Your Kitchen Needs In One Neat and Tidy Stack

If you're attempting to outfit a kitchen with a limited budget and even less space, Joseph Joseph has put together this lovely nine-piece Nest kit that stacks like a matryoshka doll for easy storage. The $150 set includes two stainless steel mixing bowls with non-slip bottoms, a fine mesh sieve, a large colander, and five plastic measuring spoons ranging from a teaspoon to a full cup.

The Nest's unique stacking design also makes it easy to spot when a particular item has gone missing. And even more importantly, after an evening of baking they'll all take up minimal space when left in the sink for a couple of weeks. More here.

This Impossibly Thin Table Stores Wherever You've Got an Inch of Space

How often do you really use that dining table in your apartment? Most meals are probably consumed in front of the TV, or at a restaurant. And sure, it's handy for the occasional dinner party or tax audit, but the rest of the time it's just wasting space. So reclaim a good 40 square of your pad with this incredibly thin folding table by Lodovico Bernardi that practically disappears when you turn it sideways.

Seriously, if the prototype ever goes into production, you'll definitely want to be careful carrying this table off of an elevator. More here.