Top news this week: New iPhones on sale, India gets Note 3 and Xperia Z1, GTA V and more!

The past week has been one of the most exciting ones in the tech world. From new iPhones going up for sale, a slew of device launches in the Indian market to Twitter planning for an IPO, we’ve seen it all. While a lot has happened over the week, here’s a quick recap of the top news that you wouldn’t want to miss.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 launched in India for Rs 49,900
Samsung’s much-awaited Note 3 was launched for Indian users in an event held in Delhi earlier this week. Priced at Rs 49,900 for the 32GB model, the Note 3 will be available from September 25. It brings a refreshed design and a set of nifty features, making it a worthy successor of the Galaxy Note 2. Our hands-on with the Note 3.

The Note 3 was launched in India

Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch launched in India for Rs 22,990
Samsung’s first major step into wearable computing started with the launch of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch priced at Rs 22,990. Launched along with the Note 3, it will soon to compatible with the S4, S3 and Note 2. And eventually, with the rest of Samsung’s Android clan, which have Bluetooth 4.0.

iPhone 5s facing supply shortage, especially the gold variant
iPhone 5s and 5c went up on sale this week. Though the 5c received a luke warm response, the supply for iPhone 5s is believed to be drying up quickly. The gold model has already sold out after the first day of launch.

Sony launches the Xperia Z1 in India for Rs 44,990
Sony launched its camera-centric Xperia Z1 in India for Rs 44,990, quite a hefty sum we must say. The highlight of the device is the 20.7 megapixel primary camera packed with the company’s G Lens. See our hands-on here .

Sony Cyber-Shot QX10 and Q100 camera lenses out now in India
At the high-profile Xperia Z1 event, Sony also took the curtains off its newest DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100 camera lens attachments for smartphones. The lenses will be priced at Rs 12,990 and Rs 24,990 respectively. Here are our first impressions of the lenses.

Micromax launches 4-inch display Canvas Fun A63 for Rs 6,799
Amidst all these high-profile launches, desi phone maker Micromax launched a new budget Android smartphone, the Canvas Fun A63 for Rs 6,799. It is slated to be the cheapest smartphone in the Canvas Fun series.

Micromax launches 8 inch Canvas Tab P650 for Rs 16,500
Desi phone maker Micromax also brings its first tablet under the Canvas series. The company has launched the Tab P650 sporting an 8-inch display for Rs 16,500

First tablet in Micromax Canvas portfolio

Google makes flatter logo, App Launcher grid official
Google has jumped onto the flat icon bandwagon too and officially acknowledged that it is going to adopt a new look for its iconic logo after weeks of denial. Google is also rolling out a new sleek App Launcher style navigation bar across all its products.

BBM coming to Android and iOS this weekend
The dates are out finally! The much-awaited cross platform versions of BlackBerry Messenger will be dropping by for Android and iOS this weekend. While Android users will be able to start using the application on September 21, iOS users will be able to get hold of BBM for their devices the next day.

Twitter titillates users, investors with IPO tweet
Twitter resorted to a tweet to titillate its more than 200 million users and a flock of potential investors with its long-awaited plans to pursue an initial public offering of stock.

LG G2 launching in India on September 30
And it’s now official. LG has sent out invites for an event it is holding in Delhi on September 30. And the highlight of the show is the official India launch of the company’s latest smartphone, the G2.

LG G2 India teaser

Asus launches revamped 5-inch Padfone Infinity, Snapdragon 800 inside
Asus launched its smartphone-tablet hybrid, the Padfone Infinity. The new device comes with a 5-inch full HD Super IPS display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920. Internally, the device comes with Qualcomm’s latest quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC clocked at 2.2GHz.

Pinterest to get Promoted Pins soon as the service thinks monetisation
Pinterest has been one of the fastest growing social networking websites, not just in countries such as the US and UK but also in others around the world, since its launch in 2010. It was only a matter of time then that the service went down the monetisation route.

Rockstar’s open-world epic, Grand Theft Auto 5, is finally out. GTA 5 is available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for Rs 2,999. There isn’t any official word on the PC version, sadly enough, but this is normal for the franchise since PC versions of GTA games are generally announced and released around six months after the console release.

Grand Theft Auto 5 makes $800 million on first day
Parent company Take-Two Interactive has announced that the recently-released Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold the highest number of copies on day one in the history of the company and the franchise. The game hit stores a couple of days ago on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and managed to make $800 million worldwide (not counting Brazil and Japan, where the game hasn’t been released yet) on the first day itself.

Grand Theft Auto marks milestone

BlackBerry announces the Z30 with 5-inch AMOLED display and BB 10.2 OS
BlackBerry expanded its lineup by finally announcing its latest flagship, the Z30. From the official specifications, it looks like the Z30 is the largest and most powerful BlackBerry so far and it also runs the very latest BlackBerry 10.2 OS.