News Weekly
News Weekly is our column where we highlight and summarize some of the week’s top stories so you can catch up on the latest tech news.
This is Android Central’s News Weekly, your go-to source for a concise roundup of the week’s most significant tech stories. This is where we delve into the top headlines that provide the latest developments and innovations contributing to the digital landscape.
This week, the alleged Galaxy Z Fold 7 shows up unboxed, Nothing Phone 3 launches with its unique design, OnePlus is under fire for allegedly collecting personal information, Meta’s next-gen Ray-Ban ‘Hypernova’ glasses leak, and One UI 8 may have tipped the existence of a Samsung tri-fold.
But before we get into the thick of it, we’re currently gearing up for the longest Amazon Prime Day event, running from July 8-11. We’ll be focusing on highlighting epic deals that are most relevant to you, and AC is simplifying your shopping with top deals, spotlight picks, and scam-avoidance tips. Plus, early deals are already live! And don’t forget: if you aren’t a Prime member already, this would be a good time to sign up for Prime.
Someone got their hands on the Galaxy Z Fold 7
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Someone may have gotten their hands on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7, and we got a good look at the alleged device. X tipster Jukanlosreve posted some hands-on shots of the rumored Galaxy Z Fold 7, showcasing the device in all angles in its alleged product packaging.
The images shows the device sporting a major change with its camera lenses, as it drops the black rims for silver ones. The photos also suggest the phone will be extremely thin when compared to its predecessor. However, we don’t get to see how the front of the device would look like as it it covered in a matte screen protector. That said, the phone is seen in the rumored blue colorway.
This leak doubles down on multiple other rumors floating around about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 which could measure 8.9mm when folded and to 3.9mm once unfolded. Other whispers claim the phone won’t see a battery upgrade, and would have the same 4,400mAh battery setup as the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
However, the wait isn’t for much longer, as Samsung is gearing up for Unpacked on July 9.
For more news and information on Samsung’s upcoming foldables, check out our Ultimate Guide.
Nothing Phone 3 is here
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Nothing’s new “true flagship” has finally arrived with an interesting design this week, which the company calls “joyful, expressive, and unmistakably Nothing.” The phone shows up rid of its usual Glyph light interface, swapping it for a smaller Glyph matrix interface at the top right corner of the rear panel. This interface is fully customizable and includes tools, games, and more alongside Nothing OS 3.5’s new AI-powered features.
As for the specs, the Nothing Phone 3 sports a triple 50 MP camera system on the back and, 50 MP selfie shooter on the front. The device sports a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with peak brightness up to 4500 nits (HDR) and 1600 nits (HMB), including 2160 Hz PWM dimming for eye comfort in low light and a 30Hz to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
Nothing Phone 3 launches in India with a 5,500mAh silicon-carbon battery, powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. While the rest of the world gets a smaller 5,150mAh silicon-carbon battery, with speeds up to 65W, and 15W wireless charging. Preorders for the Nothing Phone 3 began on Friday, July 4, with prices starting at $799.
While we had our eyes on the Nothing Phone 3, the company also launched its first-ever over-ear headphones, which promise an immersive sound experience, intuitive controls, and stick to Nothing’s usual “transparency” design.
The Headphone 1 is bringing back retro in every sense of the word — controls that are more satisfying to work with, like the physical roller, paddle, and button controls. These Over-ear headphones have a sleek aluminum design and plush memory foam. They come in black or white for £299/$299/€299.
OnePlus under fire in the US
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U.S. lawmakers could now be looking to investigate OnePlus as they claim the Chinese OEM could be collecting personal data from its users, and sending it back to Chinese-based servers.
Reuters suggests that U.S. lawmakers want to probe the OEM over security concerns and have pushed the U.S. Commerce Department to look into OnePlus after alleging the devices are collecting user information “without explicit user consent.”
According to two U.S. representatives, this investigation would determine the types of information being collected by OnePlus devices, which could involve “transfers of sensitive personal information and screenshots.” While we don’t have much information about what is happening in the back end, Android Central has reached out to OnePlus about this potential probe by the U.S. Commerce Department but did not hear back in time for publication. We will update this article once we know more.
All this feels extremely familiar to what happened to Huawei and ZTE, which were also facing some heat from the Federal Communications Commission(FCC), which indicted the OEMs were racketeering and “stealing trade secrets.” Following this, the FCC banned the sale or import of new communications equipment from Huawei and ZTE. It is also currently investigating whether ZTE and other Chinese companies are still operating in the U.S. in violation of restrictions. Another ongoing situation is with TikTok. We’ve seen a TikTok ban—and its return—and we’re still dealing with it today, as Trump granted the app a 75-day reprieve back in April.
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Meta’s next smart glasses showed up in a leak this week. The upcoming Hypernova smart glasses were posted on X by tipster Luna. Hypernova seems to be the codename that Meta has allegedly given to its Ray-Ban 3 (3rd Gen).
The tipster posted the rendering of Meta’s upcoming Hypernova smart glasses, with a design that looks similar to the pair of Meta’s smartglasses earlier in 2025, with a solid black coloring around the entire frame. However, the renders show arms of the smartglasses slightly wider, especially toward the lenses, and the front seems to have a higher aesthetic toward the sides, giving the smartglasses a butterfly effect.
This leak also gave us a look at Meta’s rumored sEMG bracelet, which is designed to be a necessary input partner for the glasses. In a separate post, Luna claims that Meta could end up ditching the Hypernova or simply using Ray-Ban Meta again, and these glasses could launch as the “Meta Celeste.”
Samsung’s Tri-fold shows up in a One UI 8 leak
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Samsung is gearing up to launch its newest foldables early next week; however, a One UI 8 leak may have tipped off the existence of a tri-fold phone showing up along with the rest of the line-up.
The trifold, rumored previously as the “Galaxy G Fold,” was spotted in a One UI 8 deep dive by tipster AssembleDebug. However, as the post notes, Samsung’s internal code refers to the device as the “Multifold 7.”
The leak mostly shows support animations for the phone’s functions. One animation shows off the trifold’s folding process, which sees the left-most portion opening, revealing its full display. The tipster went further, stating that One UI 8’s animation suggests Samsung has gone with two “inward-folding” panels. However, the software’s animations warn that the two panels aren’t of equal size, with the left one smaller than the right, indicating it should be folded in first.
This is also backed by One UI 8’s warning animation that says users should not fold the panel with the camera array first when closing.
More stories this week
Those are some of the biggest stories from this week. Meanwhile, here are some other stories that are worth catching up on:
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