After reporting on the worldwide smartphone market, which saw a marginal 3% growth in Q3 2025, Omdia is now back with the tablet report. The global tablet market continued the upward momentum in Q3 2025, as per the latest report. Though Apple and Samsung are at the top, it’s the Chinese brands that saw a respectable YoY growth.

The global tablet market shipped 40 million units in Q3 2025

The global tablet shipments reached 40 million units, which is a growth of 5.1% year-on-year. This marks the seventh consecutive quarter of growth. The growth comes from strong demand across the Middle East and Central Europe, along with strong customer reception in China. 

Omdia’s research manager, Himani Mukka, adds that in Q3 2025, the tablet market saw seasonal sell-in ahead of the holiday period in the “West and both holiday and 11.11 sales in Asia-Pacific and China.” However, the road ahead doesn’t look very smooth. The sell-in is expected to remain muted and largely flat in Q4 2025, with a similar outlook extending into 2026.

It’s Lenovo, which saw a significant YoY growth

Speaking of the top five, Apple is in the top spot with 14.3 million shipments, recording a flat YoY growth of 0.4%. Samsung is in the second spot with 6.9 million shipments and a flat 0.1% growth. Lenovo sits in the third spot but saw a significant 23% year-on-year increase and 3.7 million shipments. The growth is apparently a result of the expansion of its commercial tablet business in EMEA. 

Huawei is in fourth place with 3.2 million units and an 11.5% growth. Xiaomi rounds off the top five with 2.6 million units and a modest 2.3% annual increase. 

Chromebook shipments reached 4.2 million units

The tablet market also benefited from a surge in Chrome tablet shipments to Japan, thanks to the government’s GIGA 2.0 education initiative. The Chromebook shipments reached 4.2 million units, a jump of 3.1% YoY. This growth comes courtesy of renewed momentum in education deployments worldwide. Besides Japan’s GIGA 2.0 project, Chromebook’s adaptation for education is expanding across other markets, especially in Central and Eastern Europe and North America. 

Lenovo led the Chromebook segment by shipping 1.4 million units and a strong 54.6% year-on-year growth. Acer comes second with 0.8 million shipments and a YoY decline of 34.7%. HP is in the third place, with 0.7 million shipments and a 15.3% annual decline. ASUS secured fourth position with an impressive 58.5% year-on-year growth. Dell rounds out the top five with a 23% annual decline.

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YouTube expands its age verification to more users. Google first announced the restriction back in July this year, noting that it would implement these checks in August. However, it wasn’t until late September that a large group of users actually saw the verification hit their accounts. Google will leverage AI to identify viewers under the age of 18. This verification brings some notable restrictions, including blocking age-restricted videos.

YouTube expands AI age verification to more users

Several YouTube users took to Reddit to report that their accounts are seeing restrictions under the AI age verification rule. YouTube will use metrics like the age of the account and the activity to determine if you’re above or below the age of 18.

If it determines that you are under 18 years old, you will receive a notification. Much like last time, you can just accept the restrictions or verify that you are over age 18. You can do so by using an official ID, taking a selfie, or using a credit card. YouTube uses these details to estimate your age.

YouTube will block age-restricted videos

If you’re really under 18, YouTube’s restrictions include blocking age-restricted videos and showing only non-personalized ads. Digital Wellbeing tools will be on by default, including “take a break” and bedtime reminders. It’ll show reminders about privacy when uploading a video or commenting publicly. 

YouTube would start minimizing “recommendations of videos with content that could be problematic if viewed repeatedly.” Uploads will be private by default. YouTube will restrict the ability to earn from gifts on vertical live streams.

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After debuting in China last month, the Nubia Z80 Ultra is now expanding globally, including the US, EU, and UK. This arrives as a successor to the Z70 Ultra (review). The latest Nubia flagship gets its power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and an impressively large 7,200mAh battery. The phone also gets a robust design with an IP68/IP69 rating for water and dust resistance. The Nubia Z80 Ultra is now up for pre-order in global markets.

Nubia Z80 Ultra is now available to pre-order in global markets

The Nubia Z80 Ultra can be pre-ordered from the company’s official website. The phone has a starting price of $649 for the base 12GB + 256GB, $799 for the 16GB + 512GB, and the Starry Blue color with 16GB + 512GB storage comes at $829. Lastly, the 16GB RAM with 1TB storage sets you back by $899. The Nubia phone will be available in multiple colors, like Black, White, and Starry Night (Blue). Besides the US, the phone will also be available in the United Kingdom and European Union countries.

As a pre-order offer, the company is giving a $30 discount globally (£20 off in the United Kingdom and €20 off in the European Union). In addition to the discount, there’s a free protective case and power adapter for those who pre-order until November 18th. The listing on the official website says open sales will kick off on December 3rd.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 & 7,200mAh battery

The Nubia Z80 Ultra flaunts a large 6.85-inch 1.5K OLED display, which offers a 144Hz refresh rate, 2,000 nits peak brightness, and high-frequency PWM dimming and DC dimming. Powering the Nubia flagship is the mighty Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Globally, the Nubia Z80 Ultra runs on Android 16 with the MyOS skin on top. The software should offer some handy AI features.

The phone is equipped with a composite liquid metal and oversized 3D cryo-steel VC to regulate heat and offer sustained peak performance. There’s a dual-stage physical button that offers instant access to photography and gaming functions. For security, you get an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, an X-axis linear motor, and dual speakers with DTS X Ultra. Connectivity options include 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 6.0, and NFC.

For your photography needs, the Nubia Z80 Ultra provides a 50MP OmniVision LightMaster 990 main camera with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 64MP 2.7x periscope telephoto lens with OIS. You get a 16MP lens on the front for your selfie needs. Lastly, the Nubia Z80 Ultra has a whopping 7,200mAh battery with 80W wired and wireless charging.

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Xiaomi, Vivo, and OPPO offer a range of flagships with premium designs, impressive camera hardware that, in most cases, is way ahead of Apple and Samsung models. However, some of these models don’t make it to global regions, with the exception of some Ultra models. This trend could be changing next year, as a new leak brings some good news. OPPO’s upcoming Find X9 Ultra flagship may launch in global markets after all.

OPPO Find X9 Ultra could launch globally

Leaker Yogesh Brar brings a reason for OPPO fans to cheer. He claims that the OPPO Find X9 Ultra will launch in global markets by late Q1 2026. If this pans out, this should finally give consumers in the EU their first chance to buy the ultimate camera flagship from OPPO. For what it’s worth, the brand launched the regular Find X9 and X9 Pro phones globally last month.

Furthermore, the leaker adds that the India launch of the Find X9 Ultra will depend on how well the Find X9 and X9 Pro sell in the country. The phones are set to debut in India this month.

The ‘ultra’ grade camera hardware

The OPPO Find X9 Ultra will look to take on other camera flagships, the Vivo X300 Ultra, and possibly the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. If and when it arrives in global markets, the OPPO phone may not be very cheap. This is considering the camera and the rest of the hardware will be ‘Ultra’ level. Leaks suggest the Find X9 Ultra’s cameras could set a new standard for mobile photography. The phone may feature a multi-spectral sensor for more accurate color calibration. 

The current prototype of the Find X9 Ultra reportedly features a massive 200MP 1/1.1 inch main sensor. This is a significant upgrade over the 50MP lens on the current Find X8 Ultra. A previous leak claimed the Find X9 Ultra could boast two 200MP cameras.

For context, the Find X8 Ultra already houses a 200MP periscope telephoto lens. With the main sensor upgrade, it’ll be two 200MP lenses. Since the leaks are from an early prototype, the actual thing may or may not house the same hardware.

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Two former Meta employees, Mina Fahmi (Sandbar CEO) and Kirak Hong (Sandbar CTO), have launched a startup, Sandbar. They have introduced a smart ring called Stream. The company is calling it “a mouse for voice” since it can take notes, interact with an AI assistant, and even control music. It’s designed to be worn on your index finger.

Stream’s companion app features an AI chatbot

The Sandbar Stream smart ring features a microphone and touchpad that, when pressed and held, lets you record your thoughts. The microphone is off by default and will only activate with the touchpad gesture. The microphone is apparently sensitive enough to pick up whispers and transcribe them in the companion iOS app. 

Stream’s companion app features an AI chatbot that’ll have conversations with you as you record your thoughts. The app allows you to organize these into separate notes that either you or the AI can edit. You can pinch to zoom out in the app to review your previous thoughts.

The smart ring doubles as a media controller

There’s a personalization layer that makes the assistant’s voice somewhat similar to the user’s. You can continue to converse with the assistant even in crowded spaces by wearing headphones. Without the headphones, the wearable provides haptic feedback when it successfully registers a note. 

The Stream smart ring’s surface doubles as a media controller, where you can play, pause, skip tracks, and adjust volumes. There’s a $10 per month Pro subscription that offers unlimited chats, notes, and early access to new features. The company’s CEO notes that users have full control over their data at any tier, with encryption. It even wants to support data exports to apps like Notion.

Price, availability

The Sandbar Stream smart ring will set you back $249 for the silver version and $299 for the gold. The pre-orders will open today, with a three-month Pro subscription bonus. The shipments of the smart ring are expected to begin next summer. The smart ring will be available in sizes 5-13.

Sandbar has raised $13 million in funding from True Ventures, Upfront Ventures, and Betaworks. The company doesn’t want Stream to be just an assistant or a companion. Instead, it wants it to be an interface to express ideas while maintaining full control.

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Google is bringing Meet and Chat integration, so you can get the gist of a crucial meeting that you missed. Starting November 10th, your Google Meet in-meeting messages will be available in Google Chat. This means the messages or key resources, like links that were shared during the meeting in a shared Google Chat conversation, will be accessible to meeting attendees after the meeting is done.

Your Google Meet in-meeting messages will soon be available in Chat

Google, in a blog post, says that this change improves post-meeting follow-through. The company believes that this will increase productivity. This also consolidates all your messaging and conversations into Google Chat, thereby making it easy to find messages or shared files in one place. 

Attendees can send “pre-reads and other meeting materials” to the group ahead of the meeting in Google Chat. These resources will be available in Google Meet throughout the call. Additionally, attendees can now respond to messages with emojis, creating a fun environment.

Notably, the integration is designed for Google Calendar-scheduled calls. However, meeting hosts can still disable the feature for any meeting. They need to do so before the call starts from the Google Calendar event’s video call options screen.

The integration brings emoji reactions

For security reasons, external attendees will only have access to the chat during the time they’re in the meeting. They will not be able to participate in a conversation before a meeting, nor see the conversation after the meeting. Internal attendees will see clear ‘external’ indicators and banners when guests are present in the conversations. 

The Google Chat and Meeting integration is only coming to Google Workspace business and enterprise customers, for now. Enterprise Essentials, Essentials Plus, Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus, Business Starter, Standard, Plus, Frontline Starter, Standard, and Plus customers will be the first to gain access to this. Google notes that the rollout can take 15-30 days, depending on account type.

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Samsung is fighting a bunch of lawsuits. One of them was with Pictiva Display, which claims that Samsung was infringing patents relating to OLED technology. There’s now a verdict on this. A US federal court jury in Texas has found in favor of Pictiva and ordered Samsung to pay a total of $191.4 million in damages for patent infringement.

Samsung is ordered to pay $191.4 million for OLED patent infringement

A lawsuit was filed against the tech giant in 2023. Pictiva alleged that many Galaxy smartphones, wearables, computers, TVs, and other devices infringed on the patents for improving OLED displays. Samsung argued that the patents were invalid and denied the allegations. Pictiva asserted infringement of a total of five patents. However, the jury reportedly found three of them to be non-infringing and two as infringing, resulting in $191.4 million in damages. 

The new ruling suggests that the jury in a Texas federal court sided with Pictiva. It believes that Samsung devices indeed violated the patents to enhance the brightness, resolution, and power efficiency of OLED displays. Though the jury is out, the US District Court must review the legal merits to issue a final verdict.

Samsung will reportedly appeal the US court ruling

As you’d expect, Samsung is clearly not happy about the ruling. It reportedly intends to appeal the verdict. To that extent, it has filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to invalidate the relevant Pictiva patents. 

Pictiva is a subsidiary of patent licensing firm ‘Key Patent Innovations.’ It holds hundreds of patents acquired from the lighting company Osram during the “early commercialization phase” of OLED technology in the 2000s.

For Samsung, this is the second-largest award against it in recent times. To recall, a jury had hit Samsung with $445.5 million in damages for infringing on Collison Communications patents on 5G, 4G, and Wi-Fi standards.

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Google’s constantly at work refining its browser, Chrome. In the current state, it can autofill your personal details like name, address, passwords, and payment information. However, the Mountain View tech giant doesn’t want to stop there, as it can now autofill more details. Google is updating its Chrome browser’s Autofill to support passport, driver’s license number, and vehicle info.

Chrome can now autofill passport, driver’s license, and vehicle info

For Chrome to autofill passport, driver’s license, and vehicle info details, the “Enhanced autofill” option needs to be enabled. When Google says ‘vehicle info,’ it includes the license plate or VIN. This option apparently allows Chrome to understand “complex forms and varied formatting requirements better.”

This feature can be handy when you’re renting a car, and this can fill in your first/last name, driver’s license number, and state-issued. Currently, this option is only available on Chrome for desktop.

Google says Chrome will save the data only with your permission

If you’re concerned about security, Google says the enhanced autofill is fully private and secure. This can be quite reassuring to users considering the sensitive nature of the data. When you enter the relevant info into a form, Chrome will only save this data with your consent. It says the data encryption is at play. Before filling in the saved data next time on your behalf, Chrome will ask you to confirm. This gives you complete control over your data.

This update comes after Chrome for Android got a new automatic Picture-in-Picture (PiP) feature that minimizes media into a small floating window inside the browser when a user switches tabs.

To enable the new autofill option in Chrome (for desktop), go to Settings > Autofill and passwords > Enhanced autofill. These changes are available globally in all languages. Google says that it plans to support more data types over the coming months.

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Google is expanding the use cases of its AI models. Veo 3 is its text-to-video AI model, where you can generate videos with synchronized native audio from text prompts. This time, the company is using this artificial intelligence model to make TV ads for another AI-powered feature. Google has reportedly used its Veo 3 video-generation model to make a TV ad for AI Mode in Search.

Google’s first AI TV ad is reportedly made with Veo 3

As of November 1st, 2025, the TV advertisement is reportedly running on television channels, in movie theatres, and on social media. While we’ve seen Google showing off its generative AI tools, this commercial takes a new turn and opens doors for many such advertisements in the coming days.

The TV advertisement, titled “Planning a Quick Getaway? Just Ask Google,” shows a plush turkey using AI Mode in Google Search to find direct flights to a destination that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. The search returns city names. The ad follows Tom (the turkey) jetting off to a destination, away from Thanksgiving celebrations.

The YouTube description just has a standard disclosure

This is a subtle showcase of how travelers can use Google Search’s AI Mode to research and make plans for their holidays. This is apparently the first of a series, with a Christmas version to follow. This follows previous campaigns made with Veo 3 from marketers, including vitamin maker Ritual, Coign, and prediction-market startup Kalshi.

The company doesn’t explicitly say that the ad was created with AI. However, the YouTube description has a standard disclosure for “altered or synthetic content,” but there’s no mention of Veo 3. Robert Wong, vice president of Google Creative Lab, told The Wall Street Journal that this was intentional. He adds that consumers don’t care if it’s AI or not.

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Now that both Qualcomm and MediaTek have launched their latest flagship SoCs, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Dimensity 9500, we’re coming across some early leaks about the next-gen chips. Following background, they could be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600. A new report now suggests that Qualcomm and MediaTek may leverage TSMC’s improved 2nm N2P process for these chips, edging out Apple.

Qualcomm and MediaTek reportedly eyeing TSMC’s improved 2nm N2P process

TSMC has two versions of its next-generation lithography, the N2 and its successor, N2P. Apple may unveil the A20 and A20 Pro on the former, while Qualcomm and MediaTek could reportedly leverage the N2P node. While Qualcomm has been rumored to move to a 2nm N2P processor for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, the new Commercial Times report brings MediaTek to the mix.

TSMC previously announced the completion of the tape-out of its first 2nm chip and will launch it in late 2026. The 2nm N2P wafers could enter mass production in the second half of 2026.

Initially, we’ve come across leaks that said Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek will launch SoCs on TSMC’s 2nm N2 node. But the latest reports suggest that Android chip makers are moving towards the superior N2P variant. It could be because the tech giants want an edge in the chip race over Apple. Especially after seeing A19 Pro achieving the “best performance” per watt metrics in Geekbench 6 against Snapdragon and Dimensity chips. 

This move could give them an advantage over Apple

Using the same manufacturing processor wouldn’t cut it for Qualcomm and MediaTek. Apple has been developing in-house chips for years, and its engineers have been designing custom CPU and GPU cores surpassing the competition. The new A19 Pro’s efficiency cores managed to deliver up to 29% better performance at no increase in power consumption.

For Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is its second smartphone SoC with entirely in-house cores. Meanwhile, for Dimensity 9500, it relies on ARM’s CPU and GPU designs. This helps it lower its costs but comes at the cost of slower and less efficient performance. Meanwhile, despite the 2nm design, Samsung’s Exynos 2600, which could power the Galaxy S26 series, has limitations, as it may not ship with an integrated modem.

Apple was previously reported to have secured more than half of the initial 2nm supply. This could be a move to leave the competition behind. At this juncture, a sensible alternative would be to jump to the N2P node. Analysts estimate that TSMC’s 2nm process will be a “scarce resource” next year.

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Microblogging social network app Bluesky last week announced a big milestone: 40 million users. Today, the company is bringing new experiments primarily built around the notion of “social proximity.” Bluesky is bringing in “Dislikes,” which will serve as a signal for the kinds of posts you don’t want in your Discover feed. Besides this, there are a host of other experiments to improve conversations on the platform. 

Bluesky hits 40 million users milestone

Days after hitting 40 million users, Bluesky is adding new tools. Bluesky says it will use the dislikes option as a new feedback signal to improve user personalization. When users dislike posts, the system will learn what sort of posts you’d prefer to see less of. This could also affect reply ranking, reducing the visibility of low-quality replies.

Bluesky says that Dislikes are private and the signal isn’t global, mainly affecting your own experience and, to some extent, others in your “social neighborhood.” The beta testing of dislikes will start soon.

Improved toxic detection

The company notes that it’s testing a mix of ranking updates, design changes, and new feedback tools. These improve the quality of conversations and “give people more control over their experience.” The company is prioritizing replies from people closer to your neighborhood. This can apparently make conversations feel more relevant and familiar.

Bluesky says the latest model does a better job at detecting replies that are toxic, spammy, off-topic, or posted in bad faith. It says that posts that cross the line are down-ranked in reply threads, search results, and notifications. This will reduce their visibility while keeping conversations open for “good-faith discussion.”

Refreshed reply settings

While the platform already offers ways to limit replies to only people who follow you, it’s now building on that. Bluesky is testing a small change to how the “Reply” button works on top-level posts. Instead of jumping straight into the composer, it now takes you to the full thread first. It believes that this will encourage users to read before replying.

The company is also tweaking the reply settings feature to make it more visible to users. This should give users more control over who can reply and shape their own conversations. Lastly, Bluesky notes that it’ll keep refining these systems and “measuring their impact” on how people experience. These changes join the emoji reactions and a new Explore page that were introduced in April.

The post Bluesky Introduces Dislikes as The Platform Hits 40 Million Users appeared first on Android Headlines.

AI is everywhere these days, with Google looking for more ways to bring it into our lives. The tech giant is reportedly putting it to work by bringing AI-generated app review summaries to the Google Play Store. We’ve seen this AI feature on many Android phones in the form of AI Summaries, where it cuts down large pieces of text into short, crisp notes. Google is now doing this with app reviews.

Google Play Store now serves you AI-generated summaries of app reviews

Android Authority reports that AI-generated review summaries in the Play Store are now appearing more broadly. Once available to your account, you’ll see a new “Users are saying” bold heading in the Rating and review section of the Play Store app listings. 

The single paragraph AI summary highlights common positive and negative points across that app’s user reviews. However, it appears that apps must have enough reviews for AI to work with.

Not all devices have it yet

The report notes that it’s seeing AI app review summaries in the Play Store version 48.5.21-31. However, it doesn’t seem to be available on all devices at the moment. Under the AI text summary, there’s a range of tabs that let you dive deep into reviews, detailing certain aspects of the app. Based on the app’s nature, some common aspects could include interface, feature availability, and performance.

Apple rolled out similar review summaries for the iOS App Store in April. Amazon, too, has been serving AI-generated product review summaries for quite some time.

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Meta’s Threads app is on a growth path as it hit the 150 million daily active users milestone. Shortly after adding communities and disappearing “ghost posts,” the platform is now introducing new tools that’ll give you, as a user, more control over the conversations. New Threads reply approval and Activity feed filters put more power in your hands.

Threads will now let you approve replies to your posts

The new Reply Approvals feature will let you decide which replies from other users appear on your posts before anyone else can see them. This lets users monitor conversations around their posts and keep discussions on-topic. You will be presented with a list of pending replies, which you can make public using approve buttons. There is also an ignore button for each one. If this feels like a stretch, you can approve or ignore all comments in one tap.

Threads already offers tools that’ll let you limit replies to people you follow, your followers, or people you mention. This new feature lets you “set the tone of the conversations.”

These new Threads tools are rolling out

In addition to approvals, Meta is also rolling out new Activity feed filters. This will allow you to more easily view the replies from people you follow, or replies that include mentions. These join options, like Verified, Quotes, and Reposts, as other ways to filter replies. These new Threads filters and reply approval tools are now rolling out to everyone.

As Meta adds new features and the user base continues to grow, the company is moving to ramp up monetization by rolling out ads on Threads globally. It’s also adding new ad formats, including video ads. It’s also testing controls that’ll allow users to tune their algorithm by adding/removing topics of their interests. The company notes that it’s always listening to user feedback.

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