New iPhone breaks records, new Microsoft tablets and wising up on your Twitter vocabulary.

The new iPhone was launched by Apple a couple of weeks ago—and turned out to be two phones: the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c (the ‘c’ stands for colour).

The 5s is the new flagship model and has already broken Apple’s sales records for a new model, selling 9 million handsets over its first weekend, compared to the previous model’s 5 million. (Technology released are getting more like cinema releases these days.)

Apart from a completely new look, courtesy of Apple’s new iOS7 operating system, and three restrained colour options, the main feature of the iPhone 5s is fingerprint-based security, whereby the phone can only be opened by the user’s finger or thumbprint (or, as it turns out, their nipple). Payments can the authorised in a similar way. A much-improved camera is also included.

The iPhone 5c is a more mass market product, cheaper and released in six bright plastic colours. It’s causing some pundits to wonder if this is the handset that might help Apple really compete with Samsung in Asian markets.

Notably, while the new handsets appear to be selling strongly, Apple reports that 200 million iPhone and iPad owners have already downloaded iOS7, the operating system released at the same time as the iPhone 5s and 5c. The operating system gives owners of existing models many of the same features as the new iPhone 5s.

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Not to be outdone, Microsoft has released two Surface tablets to rival the iPad. There’s a useful comparison of the two devices here.

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If you are still finding Twitter a bit overwhelming try reading this guide to the medium’s acronyms and abbreviations, as published by Business Insider.

ICYMI (in case you missed it), Twitter is planning to capitalise on its soaring popularity by making an IPO.

The announcement was made via a tweet.

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Finally, the idea of being able to control household devices via the internet has been talked about for years. But BBC Radio 4 reports that its only a matter of time before the ‘internet of things’ becomes the next big thing, with not even cows safe from its clutches.