Apple will launch the iPhone 5 on 26th October in India, according to a news report. BGR India says "multiple sources" have confirmed that the launch will be on the last Friday of this month. It has also been reported that the company will take up the responsibility of distribution, rather than rely on carrier partners.

The flagship device was launched on 12th September, and became available in most major markets from the 21st. The iPhone 4S, launched almost a year earlier, was made available in India only on the 26th of November last year. Apple seems to have decided to speed things up this time, advancing the India release date by around a month. It makes a lot of sense considering the excitement about the iPhone 5 in the country, and the number of people waiting to snap one up. Here are the key specs that have made it such a hot buy:

• 4" Retina display with 640x1136 pixels at 326 ppi, 16:9 aspect ratio.
• 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, 1.2 megapixels front camera.
• A6 chipset, twice as fast as the iPhone 4S's A5 (according to Apple).
• Dual-band Wi-Fi with AirPlay support, Bluetooth 4.0, Assisted GPS with GLONASS.
• 4.8" (l) x 2.3" (w) x 0.3" (7.6 mm) (d), 112 grammes.
• iOS 6; Supports 4G LTE, 3G; Uses nano-SIM card.

The smartphone has already been available here via unofficial sources for the past couple of weeks. Going by Apple's pricing tradition, the pricing of the iPhone 5 will be similar to that of its predecessor. Keep your fingers crossed!

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Apple, iPhone, Jayesh