Topping tech headlines on Wednesday, Google announced that it will fork WebKit and transition to a new Web rendering engine for Chrome.

Dubbed Blink, the new open-source engine “will spur innovation and over time improve the health of the entire open web ecosystem,” Google said. In the short term, Blink won’t change much for developers; the bulk of initial work will focus on internal improvements. WebKit is an open-source layout engine used to render webpages in Safari, Chrome, and other browsers; it is also used in smartphones.

In other news, Twitter is integrating direct links to app downloads in tweets, meaning a message that includes a photo from Path, for example, will link to the Path app in the App Store or Google Play for those who do not already have it installed. The move, similar to Facebook’s mobile app install system, is part of an update to Twitter Cards, which allows content to display directly within a tweet.

Meanwhile, China’s largest search engine, Baidu, has reportedly developed a prototype for wearable Internet technology similar to Google Glass. Baidu is currently testing the device, dubbed Baidu Eye, which can made phone calls, search the Web, and recognize the user’s gestures to take and send photos. The Eye, which Baidu confirmed to other news outlets, is reportedly more of a side project for the company at this point.

Also making headlines Wednesday:

• 40 Years Later, 11 Game-Changing Phones: Forty years ago, a Motorola engineer placed the first call from a cellular phone. Today, mobile phones are pocket computers. How did we get here?
• Report: Google Prepping Cheaper Nexus 7 for Summer Release: According to a new report, Google is preparing to release an improved version of the Nexus 7 for a significantly lower price.
• Jelly Bean Tops 25 Percent After Google Changes Tracking Methods: Jelly Bean is now on 25 percent of Android devices, thanks in part to Google changing up how it calculates activations.
• Amazon Extends AutoRip Service to Vinyl: PCMag talked to Steve Boom, vice president of digital music for Amazon, about AutoRip, the possibility of Amazon launching a streaming music service, and more.
• USPTO Rejects Apple’s ‘Bounce Back’ Patent (Again): The U.S. Patent Office has once again rejected the validity of Apple’ s “bounce back” patent, but as Apple noted in a follow-up filing, the decision is not yet final.
• Infographic: Skype Usage Tops 2 Billion Minutes a Day: It’s clear that users love Skype, but just how much time are we all spending on the Microsoft-owned video chat service?
• Google’s Quickoffice Now Available on iPhone, Android: Google released its Quickoffice app for Android and iPhone users to edit Microsoft Office files on-the-go.
• Mozilla, Samsung Developing Next-Gen Browser Engine, Servo: Mozilla is collaborating with Samsung on a new Web browser engine, dubbed Servo, for Android and ARM.
• Rdio Tackles Movies, TV With Vdio: Music-streaming service Rdio stepped into the video space with the launch of Vdio, a service that will let users buy, rent, and share movies and TV shows.
• Disney Shutters LucasArts Game Studio: After almost 31 years producing video games, interactive entertainment studio LucasArts is shutting down.
• Analyst: 60-Inch iTV Coming This Year With ‘iRing’: Apple’s elusive iTV has surfaced again, this time with a 2013 launch date, and some new bling.
• One Year Later, Nearly 50 Percent of Instagram Users on Android: On April 3, 2012, more than a million people downloaded the Android Instagram app. A year later, Android users account for almost half of all Instagrammers.
• Source: Sony Planning Big PS4 Reveal Before E3: Expect a big announcement from Sony about its next-gen PlayStation 4 console this month, or possibly in early May, a source tells PCMag.