Plus good news if you want to fix a Galaxy S22, but bad news if you’re counting down the days to Apple’s AR glasses.

My condolences to everyone at Microsoft affected by the massive layoffs. Officially announced on Wednesday morning, the cuts mean about 10,000 people will lose their jobs. It makes Microsoft the latest tech giant to cut thousands of jobs in recent months, following layoffs at Meta and Amazon, among others.

Wednesday’s tech news, like Tuesday’s, began with a new hardware announcement from Apple. After discontinuing the HomePod speaker a few years ago, the company is launching a new version, priced at $299, with support for Spatial Audio and the Matter smart home spec.

Apple has also reportedly put its plans to release lightweight augmented reality glasses on hold due to “technical challenges”. The mixed reality headset (which includes both AR and VR) is still believed to be on track for this year, but these slimmer AR-only goggles are unlikely to make it to their targeted 2025 launch date.

For now, here’s a silly tweet to start your day (don’t worry, it’s not really “sensitive content” as the disclaimer suggests):

Stay tuned as we continue to update this list with today’s most important news: Wednesday, January 18, 2023.