Is AI The Scapegoat Employers Use To Explain Technology Layoffs? - Forbes

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The best Samsung certified renewed deals on Amazon: If you're on the lookout for a great deal on a phone — or any tech for that matter — we strongly recommend checking out refurbished devices from top manufacturers. You can find competitive bargains on certified refurbished devices, which are pretty much indistinguishable from brand-new options. You'd never know they're pre-loved. Now you can find refurbished Samsung Galaxy phones on Amazon, which is a first for the Galaxy line. There are 14 Galaxy models available on Amazon, part of Samsung's certified renewed program, including the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 FE. This is obviously great news for anyone who needs an upgrade. Tech prices have soared due to the AI price crunch known as RAMageddon, which has caused phone sales to crash to a 14-year low. According to market research from Counterpoint, the increasing demand for memory hardware has led to major price increases and supply disruptions from top tech manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple. Customers have been left to foot the bill with price hikes across the board.

Global engineering community invites makers and engineers to create Halloween-themed electronics projects for the chance to win prizes element14 Community, an Avnet community, has launched its 2026 Halloween Hackathon, inviting engineers, makers and electronics enthusiasts worldwide to build and share Halloween-themed electronics projects for the chance to win prizes. Participants are encouraged to create projects ranging from electronic decorations and interactive costumes to automated trick-or-treater spooking devices and other Halloween-inspired builds. To enter, members must submit a project write-up explaining how their creation works and how it was built.

Samsung has confirmed a list of Galaxy devices that are set to get its Android 17-based One UI 9 update in at least one region, which tells us what to expect globally in the coming months. One UI 9 started rolling out with the Galaxy S26 series in September and, in the time since, has expanded to a bunch of last-gen Galaxy smartphones. What’s next? Samsung has confirmed an official list of Galaxy smartphones and tablets that will be getting Android 17-based One UI 9 updates.

Google has announced updates to Fitbit Air and Google Health, aimed at making activity tracking smarter and health insights more helpful. These updates are added to already available features (more than 55) and fixes, including more customisation to Today tab, expanded focus metrics, improved Coach memory, deepened Apple Health integration. Fitbit Air gets better at spotting your workoutsFitbit Air’s automatic activity detection has been upgraded. It can now track more than 100 activities, up from 10 earlier. Google says the feature uses contextual reasoning, drawing on a user’s workout routines and past data, to work out what they are doing. According to the company, this makes activity detection nearly twice as accurate and cuts missed workouts by more than half. Health Guardian is coming to Fitbit AirLater this month, Health Guardian, Google’s suite of health and safety features, will also arrive on Fitbit Air for Google Health Premium subscribers. With it, users can:Track blood pressure and insulin resistance trends in the Google Health app. Get monthly reports that help them spot changes and make informed lifestyle adjustments.