Google currently fields more than 100 billion searches per month. For the first time, mobile devices have surpassed PCs as the device of choice for performing Google searches worldwide. “The shift to mobile has prompted Google to rethink its core business, which places ads based on keywords typed into the company’s search engine,” explains The Wall Street Journal. “New types of devices, from phones to tablets to cars to wearables, will require new ways of searching.” Since many of these devices do not necessarily rely on typing text, Google is looking at technologies such as voice and image recognition moving forward.

Shortly after Jack Dorsey was named permanent CEO of Twitter, the company is reportedly readying company-wide layoffs to begin this week. According to sources, the number of layoffs remains uncertain, but most departments are likely to be affected. Re/code reports, “The downsizing comes at the same time Twitter is restructuring its engineering organization to make it leaner and more efficient, these sources say. It’s likely that many of those impacted by the layoffs will be engineers, which make up about half the staff.” Twitter has more than doubled its number of employees since Q2 2013 to roughly 4,100.

Following an earlier price increase in Europe this year, Netflix is raising its subscription fee for new customers in the U.S., Canada and parts of Latin America. Subscribers who opt for the plan that allows two viewers to simultaneously use an account will be charged $9.99 ($1 more per month), while one-screen and four-screen plans will not change. Current customers will have a grace period before being affected by the increase. “With more than 65 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix is counting on customer gains and higher prices to sustain revenue growth and finance the cost of its film and TV offerings,” reports Bloomberg.

Sony announced yesterday that it has completed its acquisition of SoftKinetic Systems, Belgian innovator of time-of-flight (ToF) range image sensor technology. SoftKinetic’s depth-sensing camera tech is ideal for tracking hand gestures, which makes the startup a logical fit for Sony and its ongoing efforts with augmented reality smart glasses and the PlayStation VR headset. According to Re/code, the company’s ToF cameras “work by shining a diffused laser out into the world and measuring how long it takes that laser to bounce back, similar to the motion camera Kinect that connects to Microsoft’s Xbox.”

During the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that while it is “a bit further out,” his company is working on augmented reality. Facebook signaled its intentions regarding virtual reality when it acquired Oculus, but augmented reality presents new challenges, according to Facebook’s Michael Abrash, and is likely to take longer. “The implications for a Facebook-driven AR system are pretty obvious,” suggests TechCrunch. “Imagine, maybe, walking down the street and getting a heads-up display for the number of likes a business has.”

Brand consultancy Interbrand recently released its annual Best Global Brands report and, not surprisingly, tech companies continue their worldwide dominance. Apple and Google topped Interbrand’s list for the third year running. “The study, which is in its 16th year, assigns dollar values and ranks to what it deems the top 100 global brands, based on company performance,” explains Quartz. The analysis considers “financial performance, influence on consumer behavior, and staying power relative to peers.” Microsoft was ranked number 4, IBM number 5, Amazon number 10 and Intel number 14. Cisco took the number 15 spot and Facebook was ranked 23rd.

Less than three months after its launch, Jet.com has decided to waive its $50 annual membership fee, which was key to the startup’s business model. The NJ-based shopping site raised $225 million in venture capital prior to going live, making it one of the most-hyped tech startups this year. Considered a potential challenger to Amazon, Jet.com was seen by many as a discount shopping site, a perception Jet executives are hoping to change. However, a shift to its membership model could mean reduced savings for users. “Without the membership fees, it will be more challenging for Jet to beat Amazon’s prices — its key pitch to customers — while also funding a massive advertising campaign,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

Starting in January 2016, cable channel ABC Family will be renamed Freeform as part of a rebranding effort to target a younger audience. The new channel plans to shift from aging millennials to younger viewers, coined “becomes.” The name Freeform is meant to reflect the way today’s teens and young adults consume their media. The rebranded channel does not have a logo yet, but a radical new approach is expected. “A Facebook video created to introduce the new name and look, for instance, relies on a rapid patchwork of fonts and images — appearing much more like MTV than Disney,” according to The New York Times.

The FAA proposed yesterday to fine Chicago-based aerial-photography firm SkyPan International “$1.9 million in connection with allegedly flying drones in restricted airspace above New York and Chicago 65 times from March 2012 through December 2014, including 43 flights near New York’s large airports,” reports The Wall Street Journal. This figure dramatically surpasses the $18,700 that was previously the FAA’s largest fine issued for unauthorized drone flights. As the use of drones continues to surge, the FAA “has stepped up a public campaign to keep drone users away from high-profile events like the Super Bowl and the papal visit.”

On October 15, the USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) will launch an Experimental Audio Design Lab within its Mobile & Environmental Media Lab. The new venture will serve as a creative think tank exploring innovative audio projects, and a service organization helping other projects within SCA realize audio goals. The lab will work across storytelling media including gaming, narrative, embedded and enchanted objects, augmented reality, virtual reality, mobile, world building, experimental cinema and more.  The Experimental Audio Design Lab seeks corporate involvement for both sponsorship and research problems to solve. Contact Chanel Summers (chanel@syndicate17.com) if you would like additional information.

Microsoft announced that it has purchased Irish gaming tech firm Havok Software — which it describes as “the leading provider of 3D physics” — from chipmaker Intel. Since Microsoft is working on both gaming and augmented reality, “its Xbox and Hololens projects require that the software giant have the best tooling possible,” reports TechCrunch. According to Havok, its technology can be found in game titles such as “Halo,” “Call of Duty,” “Uncharted” and the special effects of movies including “X-Men: First Class,” “World War Z” and “The Matrix.” Microsoft says Havok is “a fantastic addition” to “existing tools and platform components for developers, including DirectX 12, Visual Studio and Microsoft Azure.”

Google’s Nest Labs is opening up its Weave software to other developers of home-automation devices. Initial partners will include manufacturers such as General Electric and Procter & Gamble. Weave enables connected products to communicate with each other. By not limiting Weave to its own digital thermostats and devices, “more products can work together to control lights, heating, cooling, security and other things in homes,” notes Bloomberg. Nest, which is also launching an online store, “is pouring resources into its product lineup to convince consumers that they need to modernize their homes with connected, intelligent devices.”

Following a search that lasted nearly four months, Twitter announced this morning that Jack Dorsey is now the company’s permanent CEO. Dorsey had been serving as interim chief exec since former CEO Dick Costolo stepped aside in June. Adam Bain, Twitter’s head of revenue, will become the new chief operating officer. According to the SEC filing, Dorsey will continue as CEO of Square, the payments company he launched in 2009. It was earlier reported that Dorsey might have to choose between the two companies. “Dorsey, who owns a significant stake in Twitter, won’t get paid to run the company,” reports Re/code.

Twitter announced this week that its “buy now” button would be more widely available to U.S. merchants, by offering the feature to stores that use e-commerce platforms Bigcommerce, Demandware or Shopify to run their online shopping operations. Businesses that use any of the three platforms can tweet out links to products that will appear with a buy button. “A Twitter user can then purchase the product in as few as two taps — one tap on the buy button and a second to confirm the purchase,” reports The New York Times. Earlier this week, YouTube announced that advertisers now have the ability to insert buy buttons in other people’s videos.

The team running a local TV news station in Switzerland believes that iPhones offer adequate capabilities for news broadcasts, according to PetaPixel. TV station Léman Bleu has replaced all of its field cameras with iPhones and selfie sticks. Swiss newspaper Le Temps reports that the station has outfitted its reporters with iPhone 6 kits for pre-recorded packages and live shots. “It’s a search for lightness and responsiveness, but also a way to reduce the costs of producing a newscast,” said news director Laurent Keller. The smartphones enable reporters to easily go live via broadcast and online. News organizations in the U.S. are also experimenting with the approach.