Yes, more and bigger items brought on board in the least couple of years. Just a result of the HBO fares a lot of carriers now adopt. Only some airlines at some airports (e.g. LH/OS at VIE) do very strict enforcement of the limits in carry-on bags and for personal items. Guess we will see more of that if the trend continues.

What I see quite regularly is, that e.g. for SAS in CPH the GA will walk around the gate area and tag peoples over-sized bags (doesn't matter if carry-on or a so called personal item) before even boarding starts. Depends on the mood of the GA if they will be put in the hold or just tagged for delivery at the aircraft.