Major Memo Sent To Microsoft Employees

Ross Reynolds talks to Todd Bishop of Geekwire about Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's 3,200 word, company-wide memo.

Bishop picked out one key section of the missive: Nadella’s pursuit of streamlining the company’s engineering processes and being more responsive to the market and customers’ demands.

“That was the big deal,” Bishop said. “That was what potentially foreshadowed layoffs at Microsoft, because when you talk about streamlining and flattening an organization, some people are going to be on the outs.”

Layoffs are assumed to be part of the $600 million savings promised when Microsoft acquired Nokia this year.

To respond to the needs for greater productivity for their customers, Bishop thinks that Microsoft is likely to develop a “smart watch” to bring computing to the wrist.

Nadella is expected to reveal more of his plans in the coming month.

Also, Amazon is being told to pay up for apps purchased by children on their parent's devices. The company is also appealing to the FAA for the chance to test drones for delivery service. In the meantime, they are now offering Sunday delivery service to Seattle-area Prime customers.