SD cards are a dime a dozen, so any new entrants need a pretty juicy hook to get our ears pricked. Toshiba’s Exceria Pro cards mightn’t have any wireless or special transfer features, but they do claim to take the “world’s fastest” title for one basic spec: write speeds. Intended for top-level cameras, the Pro SDHC cards will come in 16GB and 32GB configurations and tout the UHS-II high-speed standard for achieving write speeds of 240MB per second. Launching alongside the Pro options will be a couple of Exceria SDXC cards with capacities of 32GB or 64GB. Also UHS-II compliant, these have maximum write speeds of 120MB per second; data read speeds of all Exceria cards top out at 260MB per second. They’ll be available in “major markets worldwide, ” but will arrive in Japan first, with the Pro cards launching in October before the regular Exceria models in November. Pricing info isn’t available right now, but we imagine they’ll be a little more expensive than the standard cards tucked away in your point-and-shoot. Filed under: Cameras , Storage Comments Source: Toshiba

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Toshiba’s Exceria Pro SDHC cards claim ‘world’s fastest’ write speeds of 240MB per second

If you’re itching to shed that old, embarrassing Yahoo username in favor of something a little more age appropriate, we’ve got good news. Mayer and Co. have just opened up a wish list to request inactive usernames. Plug in your five moniker requests (in order of preference) by August 7th, and if you’re first in line for an account that hasn’t been used in over a year, it’ll be yours by the middle of the month. Once the search giant sends a message to your inbox, simply click the included link within 48 hours and the re-purposed account will be yours. After the initial period, folks will be able to add usernames to a watch list, and will be alerted when they become available. Worried that password recovery messages sent from other services to reused addresses could be a security issue? Yahoo is too. The firm’s leaning on an email header dubbed “Require-Recipient-Valid-Since” that will only allow missives to be delivered if the recipient has confirmed that email with the sender after the date of the account transfer. While Facebook’s already onboard with the solution, other parties will need to bake it into their existing systems. Click the second source link to toss your hat in the ring for the perfect email address. Comments Source: Yahoo (1) , (2)

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Yahoo launches wish list for requesting inactive usernames

Online chat agents are far from novel, but they’re evidently getting a lot more sophisticated with age. In a bid to trap pedophiles, engineers at the University of Deusto have concocted Negobot. Essentially, the tool employs game theory in order to meticulously extract vital identification nuggets from a suspected abuser. In order to disguise itself from being a digital representation of a child , it actually employs seven different conversational agents, with each having its own way of behaving. In use, the program begins with a neutral stance that it can maintain indefinitely, and if the subject shows interest, it can elevate its approach in an attempt to get said subject to give himself / herself up. Developers are still working on language and linguistic abilities, but we wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up being put to use by certain agencies in the very near future. Filed under: Internet , Software , Alt Comments Source: Physorg

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Negobot: a virtual chat agent engineered to trap pedophiles

A welcome bit of news for Chromebook owners came this evening, as Chrome OS 28 hit the stable channel and will be rolling out to laptops over the coming days. First and foremost, you’ll find a speedier version of the Files app, which now supports recent and shared files on Google Drive . In addition, the operating system now allows for monitor rotation and scaling, and even displays pop-up notifications after taking screenshots. As an added treat, Chromebook Pixel users will find visual feedback when clicking on buttons and links. Combine this with performance enhancements and crash fixes, and Chrome OS 28 stacks up as another incremental (but wholly welcome) update. Filed under: Software , Google Comments Source: Chrome Releases (Google)

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Chrome OS 28 hits stable release, brings visual feedback to Chromebook Pixel

While exoplanets are seemingly a dime a dozen , their looks have been mysteries; they often exist only as measurements. Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have partly solved that riddle by pinpointing the visible color of an extrasolar world for the first time. By measuring reflected light, they can tell that HD 189733b (conceptualized above) is a cobalt blue, much like Earth’s oceans. Not that we can claim much kinship, though. The planet is a gas giant 63 light-years away — its blue tint comes from an atmosphere likely full of deadly silicate. As disappointing as that may be, the discovery should at least help us understand planet types that don’t exist in the Solar System. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Source: ESA

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Hubble researchers identify color of an exoplanet for the first time (video)

No one likes waiting for a file transfer to finish, and thankfully SanDisk is doing something about it. The company’s new “Extreme” line of microSD cards (16GB, 32GB, 64GB capacities) promises to deliver speeds of up to 80MBps. Benchmarks done by Android Police have the 64GB card hitting 78MBps when used in a dedicated card reader. Putting the card in a smartphone, however, yields far different results. Most smartphones, save for the Exynos 5 Octa version of the GS4, don’t support the newer UHS-1 standard for increased transfer speeds. When tested in a Galaxy Note II, SanDisk’s new card “only” achieved 14MBps read speeds and 14.6MBps write speeds — that’s still between 50% and 100% faster than a previous generation 64GB SanDisk microSD card. So now we just need phones to catch up, and for handset makers who are averse to microSD cards altogether to change their tune . Comments Source: SanDisk , Android Police

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SanDisk’s Extreme microSD cards promise 80MBps, live up to that claim

We’ve seen a number of efforts to build a better artificial skin , or ” e-skin , ” over the years, and a team of researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology now say they’ve made a breakthrough that could lead to some of the most sensitive e-skin yet. The key development is a new type of flexible sensor that would not only allow the artificial skin to detect touch, but humidity and temperature as well. Those sensors are comprised of gold-based nanoparticles that are just five to eight nanometers in diameter and laid on top of a substrate — in their research, the scientists used PET, the type of plastic you’d normally find in soda bottles. That substrate conducts electricity differently depending on the way it is bent, which means researchers can adjust its sensitivity just by increasing its thickness. As you might expect, this is all still in the early stages, but the researchers see plenty of possibilities for the future, from bringing a sense of touch to artificial limbs to using the same technology to monitor stress on bridges. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Via: PhysOrg Source: American Technion Society

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Researchers say new development could give artificial skin a wider range of senses

At Dropbox’s first DBX developer conference in San Francisco, CEO Drew Houston announced a new Dropbox Platform for developers, which is essentially a suite of tools to make it easier for apps to access data across devices and operating systems. Built on top of the Sync API, Houston says the new Dropbox Platform is designed to “replace the hard drive” and that “sync is the new save.” The platform is comprised of “Drop-ins, ” which provide cross-platform UI components, “Chooser, ” which gives apps instant access to files in Dropbox, and “Saver, ” which provides one-click saving to the cloud. Dropbox also announced the Datastore API, which lets you sync data like contacts, to-do items and game state — so you can save your Angry Birds level across your different gadgets for example. Some of the third-party companies that have signed onto the new Dropbox Platform include Shutterstock, PicMonkey, Asana, Yahoo! Mail, Animoto, 1Password, CloudOn, FedEx and Fargo. As part of the announcement, Dropbox also announced a Developing… Comments

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Dropbox announces the Dropbox Platform, syncing between third-party apps

iOS 7 was revealed less than a month ago, and already Apple has pushed out its third beta release for the operating system. Yes, mobile devs, that means you’ve got a new download coming to you from Cupertino that’ll fix a plethora of problems found in beta 2 , and add a few improvements as well. The full list of additions is too lengthy to include here, but registered devs can find the full release notes at the source, and other folks can peruse them over at 9to5Mac . Filed under: Software , Mobile , Apple Comments Via: 9to5Mac Source: Apple Developer

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iOS 7 beta 3 released, brings a bundle of bug fixes and improvements

Just over 18 months after making its video debut , the Navy’s electromagnetic railgun has a manufacturer. BAE Systems — known for e-ink-powered tank camouflage , autonomous spiderbots and machine-gun-mounted lasers — won the government contract and hopes to have phase-two prototypes ready “as early as next year.” While the current design is capable of firing one shot, the Office of Navy Research hopes for six to ten shots per minute. If that doesn’t scare you, consider this: The pulse-driven projectiles travel at Mach 6 and can hit targets over 100 nautical miles away. Don’t worry, it’s not too late to rethink that career of sailing the high seas as a pirate and get to work on that accounting degree instead. Filed under: Science Comments Via: Defense Tech Source: BAE Systems

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Navy awards weaponized railgun manufacturing contract to BAE Systems