Top news this week: Moto G announced, PlayStation 4 launches, Aircel 4G and more!

The past week has witnessed some big announcements in the technology world. If the festive season hasn’t let you get your daily dose of tech news, then here’s a quick recap of what happened in the tech space in the past week.

Motorola launches 4.5-inch Moto G, headed to India in January 2014
Motorola has finally unveiled the Moto G, sporting a 4.5-inch HD ’edge-to-edge’ display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixel. Indian users have some good news in store for them, as the announcement saw Motorola finally confirming that it would be re-entering the Indian market with the new smartphone, with a launch slated for “early-January 2014”.

Moto G is now official

PlayStation 4 spotted on Snapdeal with Rs 40,000 price tag
While Sony has been quiet about launching its next-gen console—the PlayStation 4—in India, online retailer Snapdeal seems to be quite confident about it coming here in December. The online store has listed the console as available for pre-orders. Picking it up requires the buyer to pay Rs 1,999 in advance, and the store will charge the remainder of the Rs 40,000 price tag when it starts shipping.

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Xbox One listed online with Rs 40,000 price tag and EMI options
It’s console season and with the Xbox One hitting stores in the initial launch countries next week, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing the console in India too. The Microsoft console has been put on pre-booking, where buyers will have to pay Rs 1,999 for the console and the rest of the amount on the release of the product. The full price of the console is listed as Rs 40,000, which sounds like a rather arbitrary amount given the $499 price tag of the console.

Apple reportedly working on curved screen iPhones, improved touch sensors
Apple might be working on new iPhone designs. A person familiar with the plans claimed the new iPhones will have bigger screens with curved glass and enhanced sensors that can detect different levels of pressure.

iPad Air, new iPad mini reportedly coming to India on November 29; prices revealed too
Apple’s new iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display could be headed to Indian market on November 29. It looks like the 16GB Wi-Fi only model of the iPad mini with Retina display might be launched at Rs 28,900. The 32GB, 64GB and 128GB Wi-Fi only models may set users back Rs 35,900, Rs 42,900 and Rs 49,900 respectively. The 16GB variant of the mini with cellular connectivity will be priced at Rs 37,900. The 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models of the same could come with a price tag of Rs 44,900, Rs 51,900 and Rs 58,900 respectively.

Thin and powerful

Xolo’s 5-inch Q1000 Opus to feature 1.2GHz Broadcom quad-core chipset
Broadcom’s turnkey smartphone platform will be used in the new Xolo Q1000 Opus, which will be made available in India later this month. Xolo’s new smartphone leverages Broadcom’s BCM23550 quad core HSPA+ processor, BCM4334 connectivity combo chip and BCM4752 multi-constellation GNSS location chip to deliver a high performance, feature-rich experience at an affordable price.

Google Nexus 5 to arrive in India by November end
Anxious Indian Android fans wanting to get their hands on the newly launched Nexus 5 may not have to wait for too long. The handset appeared online for pre-order on both Flipkart and Snapdeal. While there is no release date given on the former, the latter claims that the device will be seen in the fourth week of November.

Android now accounts for 81 percent of smartphone market
Google’s hugely popular OS platform, Android, has nabbed over 80 percent of global smartphone market share for the first time in the third quarter this year, according to the latest report from IDC.

Gmail will let you save directly to Drive, preview files in inbox
Users will now be able to save email attachments to Google Drive directly, instead of going through their Downloads folder, which can get pretty tedious at times. When you open your Gmail inbox now, you will be shown preview of the files as attachments within the mail. You will be shown a preview of all kinds of files from photos to videos to spreadsheets and even PDFs. Then, you will have the option of either downloading it to your computer or simply storing it to your Drive, making it accessible on other devices you own too.

Google Nexus 5 16GB available in the grey market for Rs 37,500
While there is still no news as to when Google’s recently launched Nexus 5 will be officially made available in India, it looks like the device has made its way to the grey market here. The 16GB version of the handset is currently available in black for a slightly hefty price tag of Rs 37,500, according to market sources.

Coming soon to India

Google India’s new ad based on the partition will warm your heart
The past week saw the touching video go viral on Facebook and Twitter. Google has come up with a heart-warming series of advertisements, depicting how technology can bring you closer to the people you care about. The touching Google Search advertisement shows how two friends, torn apart by the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan are brought together with the help of Google’s technology.

Micromax to assemble smartphones in India from next year
Domestic handset company Micromax will start assembling phones locally by the first quarter of next year. “We have a plant in Rudrapur and have already started assembling of phones on trial basis there. It will be commercially launched in the first quarter of next year.”

Aircel bags 4G licence, starts trials in Andhra Pradesh
Telecom service provider Aircel is now currently conducting trials of 4G services in Andhra Pradesh. While the tests are currently underway, a top official from the provider was reported saying that it will take some time before the service can commercially be launched.