The new Google Cardboard Camera app now enables Android phone users to record virtual reality photos for viewing in Google Cardboard. This is similar to a panoramic smartphone image, but the user makes a full 360-degree rotation. A sound snippet is recorded at the same time. “The result is pretty striking: a three-dimensional panorama where near things look near, far things look far, and you can look in front of you, to your sides, or crane your neck all the way behind you to see the entire captured scene,” notes the Wired review. “Unlike VR video, the elements in the picture aren’t moving; it’s a stillframe moment in time, enhanced by the natural sounds of the scene.”

The HTTP/2 protocol, launched in February with the goal of enhancing speed and efficiency of Web traffic, is getting a major boost with support from content distribution network CloudFlare. The new protocol “will be available by default to all the company’s customers, more than doubling the adoption for the fledgling Web standard,” reports The Verge. “The most noticeable result for users will be faster page speeds. HTTP/2 won’t make pages significantly smaller, but the same data will require fewer round trips to the server, cutting load times by as much as half in some tests.” While browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari already support HTTP/2, the protocol so far accounts for a small percentage of the overall Web.

Oculus’ second Rift development kit (DK2) continues to grow in market value, commanding as much as $1,200 for a new unit on auction sites such as eBay. New and used DK2 units are selling online for hundreds more than the original $350 asking price. “Resale prices for the headset only soared to their current highs since Oculus stopped selling the DK2 hardware on October 26, likely to prepare for the impending launch of the consumer Rift,” explains Ars Technica. “Yet even before the DK2 was discontinued, aftermarket sales were still going for prices well above the ‘retail’ price.” Oculus’ consumer VR hardware is expected to launch early next year.

Apple and Santa Barbara-based Sonos announced earlier this week that Apple Music will finally be available via Sonos’ popular Wi-Fi speakers. According to Forbes, a public beta will launch December 15, and general availability is expected in early 2016. While Sonos already offers other streaming music services through its app, the Apple Music integration will introduce new features including “For You,” “Radio” and “My Music.” Sonos, which launched 13 years ago, has become the biggest brand in connected audio. “This will be Apple’s first integration into third-party hardware for its music streaming service,” notes Forbes.

As part of a software upgrade, Verizon’s FiOS TV service has been introducing DVR Anywhere features in select markets that enable subscribers to view their stored content on more screens. “DVR Anywhere will allow FiOS TV subs to access their recordings on Internet-connected mobile devices,” reports Multichannel News. “Additionally, the software update enables in-home streaming of the full live TV lineup on the FiOS Mobile app.” The updates position Verizon’s service closer to features offered by TiVo and Comcast’s X1 platform. Verizon says the rollout of new features is scheduled for all FiOS TV markets by mid December.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been working with U.S. banks, energy firms and other private companies to test possible solutions to cyber attacks and learn more about how attackers view external systems and infrastructure. According to Krebs on Security, the efforts “are part of a little-known program at DHS designed to help ‘critical infrastructure’ companies shore up their computer and network defenses against real-world adversaries. And it’s all free of charge.” National Cybersecurity Assessments and Technical Services (NCATS) provides testing through two programs — a “Risk and Vulnerability Assessment” and “Cyber Hygiene” evaluation.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced yesterday that they plan to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares over time to charitable purposes such as “personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.” The couple’s holdings are presently valued at $45 billion, notes The New York Times. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will be established to manage the money. News of the charitable plans was unveiled in a letter to the couple’s newborn daughter Max posted on Facebook. Zuckerberg also recently joined the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a multibillion-dollar clean energy initiative organized by Bill Gates.

According to Engagement Labs CEO Bryan Segal, “a retailer’s entire year is often determined in the months leading up to the holiday season.” While marketers are launching new online campaigns and tapping social media influencers, “it’s really the unprecedented power of word-of-mouth brands are really looking to leverage,” reports SocialTimes. Engagement Labs and market research firm Keller Fay have ranked the top retailers in social media and word-of-mouth. “Nordstrom, Macys and Hollister topped the list on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram respectively,” notes the article. Clothing brands are doing well with visual-centric social platforms, while retailers such as Costco, Amazon, Kroger and Target are leading in word-of-mouth.

A new Interactive Advertising Bureau study suggests that “showrooming” is still a popular trend, especially with younger consumers. According to IAB, half of adult shoppers (and more than two-thirds of Millennials) will regularly perform research on products via their mobile devices while shopping in a brick-and-mortar retail store. “The study found that shoppers usually end up buying a product in a physical store after researching it on mobile while in store, but it is often not the same physical store where the mobile research began,” reports VentureBeat. “The next most likely scenario is to buy the product from another store’s website after leaving the store, using either a mobile phone or a personal computer.”

Sony announced that it has now sold 30 million PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide since the product’s launch, bringing this year’s sales up to 9.5 million. By comparison, VGChartz notes that Microsoft has sold 15.6 million Xbox One consoles since its launch. Both consoles continue to outsell Nintendo’s Wii U, which has struggled this year selling 1.9 million units for a 10.6 million total since its debut. According to Digital Trends, “Call of Duty: Black Ops III” is helping drive sales; “VGChartz claims over 3.7 million PS4 copies have been sold on the opening week, compared to 2.2 million on Xbox One. ‘Need for Speed’ is another better seller on the PS4, with 470,000 copies sold compared to 135,000 on Xbox One.”

Seoul-based LG Display Co. plans to spend more than $8.7 billion to build a new manufacturing plant and expand its “production of a newer type of display that can be used to cut power use, make thinner devices and show brighter colors,” reports Bloomberg. LG says that by 2018 it will produce new OLED displays for TV sets, smartwatches and automotive displays. Reports also suggest the OLED tech could replace smartphone LCDs, with Apple on board to adopt OLED for its iPhones beginning in 2018. LG explains that OLED offers a brighter and sharper image than LCDs in addition to saving space and power since they do not require backlight.

Apple has acquired Zurich-based startup Faceshift, which could further Apple’s role in the virtual reality tech space. Faceshift’s motion capture technology creates animated avatars and figures in real-time that reflect an individual’s facial expressions. While Apple has confirmed the acquisition, specific plans have yet to be announced. However, TechCrunch points to three possibilities: for use in gaming avatars “for a more immediate and realistic experience,” as a tool in film production for “animating characters to more closely mimic the actors’ facial movements” (it was used in the latest “Star Wars” film), and even as potential enterprise applications that could incorporate “facial recognition for identification or security purposes.”

Juniper Research forecasts 1 billion people will access their bank accounts via mobile devices by the end of this year. The researcher suggests that banks should start directing their efforts toward wearable devices such as smartwatches, which are expected to reach 100 million banking sessions in five years. While the number of mobile banking sessions via wearable devices is expected to grow tenfold by 2020, Juniper predicts the number of mobile banking users will double to 2 billion. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Banks hoping to gain customers under the age of 30, or to prime the population younger than that, must expand into wearable devices, as well as develop a substantive social media strategy, said Nitin Bhas, head of research.”

Starz announced that its authenticated TV Everywhere service for Encore subscribers, Encore Play (which launched September 1) is now available via the Roku Channel store for Roku players and Roku-enabled TVs, providing access to a VOD library of movies and TV series. The service is also available for iOS and Android devices, Web browsers, Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets, and Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles. Meanwhile, Roku announced “channel launches for CW Seed, the CW’s digital comedy hub,” reports Multichannel News, and Smithsonian Earth, a “new standalone, ad-free subscription streaming app that offers nature and wildlife documentaries and videos shot in 4K format.”