Microsoft is making major layoffs as the company sets out on a new path.
I'm Bridgett Carey and this is your CNet update.
Times are changing at Microsoft.
Chief Executive Satya Nadella announced that up to eighteen thousand Microsoft employees would be laid off over several months.
More than half of the job cuts are coming from the Nokia phone operations that Microsoft acquired earlier this year.
In a memo to employees, Nadella wrote that the company is in the middle of a transformation.
It's expanding beyond software licensing into more hardware and cloud services.
This is Nadella's toughest move as CEO since he took over from Steve Ballmer back in February.
Microsoft promises support to those laid off.
Nokia is still going to be a big part of Microsoft even if it's slimmed down.
But, Microsoft will no longer make Nokia phones that run Android.
Of course, that comes with no surprise.
Microsoft only wants to make Windows phones.
Microsoft is struggling to grow Windows phones, but it also is facing challenges with Windows 8 surface tablets and the new Xbox One.
As part of the cuts Microsoft is shutting down Xbox Entertainment Studios.
Which was launched to create original video programming for the Xbox.
In an interview with CNet [UNKNOWN] talks about how Microsoft needs to evolve to bring it's products and services together.
To work in harmony for users.
You can head to Cnet.com to read the interview.
Switching gears, there are some app updates worth noting.
The popular Jawbone Up activity tracking bracelet has added new features to make it easier to track your food.
Before if you wanted to keep a record of your calories, you had to manually enter everything in.
What kind of food, your portion size.
And, now, it offers some suggestions based on what you typically eat so, maybe, it takes you less time to fill it all out.
And it has suggestions on what you can do to eat healthier, as if you didn't already know how to eat better.
Tech companies are very interested in health, these days.
Apple's working with Nike's Steel Band team and.
Samsung may start working with Under Armour which also makes its own workout tracking gear.
According to reports out of Korea, a top Samsung executive met with the CEO of Under Armour earlier this month.
Apple has a new way to load up a prepaid iTunes gift card into your account.
It's called iTunes Pass but, unless you often hang out near an Apple store, it's not very practical.
Basically, instead of buying an iTunes gift card, which you can get anywhere, you can now go into an Apple retail store to load money into your account directly on your phone at the cash register.
Apple's making baby steps toward doing some more with mobile payments.
That's your [UNKNOWN] update and you can get more details on these stories on cnet.com.
From our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey.
