Tipster Roland Quandt on Bluesky suggests Microsoft will launch the new Surface Laptop Ultra at its event later today. The company is tipped to launch two RTX Spark-based configurations. He states that pricing will start "from under ~3K to over ~7K for high-end configurations". The tipster claims the Surface Laptop Ultra will be the only new Surface hardware to launch...

The Indian central bank raised its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.5 percent on Wednesday, marking the first rise in nearly four years amid mounting inflation and strong economic growth. India has joined major central banks in raising rates as higher oil prices triggered by the Iran war fuel inflation, squeeze purchasing power and weigh on currencies. Weak monsoon rains linked to El Niño have compounded price pressures in Asia's third-largest economy. The six-member rate panel voted unanimously in favour of the rate hike. The monetary policy stance was changed to "calibrated tightening" from "neutral". It is clear that the outlook for inflation is no longer benign, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in his policy address. Nearly 60 percent of economists in a Reuters poll expected a 25 bps increase in the repo rate. Consumer inflation accelerated in August to 4.82 percent from a year earlier, above the Reserve Bank of India's four percent medium-term target for a third consecutive month. Higher prices of fuel and food are now rippling through the economy with nearly half of the consumer basket seeing inflation above four percent. At the same time, economic growth remains strong, giving the central bank greater leeway to raise the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses. GDP growth for the April-June quarter stood at 7.8 percent, well above the central bank's forecast of seven percent. (Reuters) Edited by Tony Sabine

Amazon is all set to kick off its Great Indian Festival sale tomorrow. It is the e-commerce giant’s biggest festive sale event of the year, bringing a range of smartphone deals across price segments. Customers can avail of price cuts, bank discounts, exchange bonus options, and no-cost EMI benefits during the sale. If upgrading to a new smartphone is on your wishlis...

Sony could be preparing a significant refresh of its PlayStation Portal with an OLED display among the upgrades. Newly surfaced information suggests that the Japanese tech conglomerate is developing two versions of its video game streaming device. Launched in 2023, the PlayStation Portal lets users stream games from a PlayStation 5. While it is not a fully standalone ...

Trading in local and regional markets was flat on Wednesday morning as investors turned their focus to the release of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes on Thursday. The Hang Seng Index lost 108 points, or 0.45 percent, to open at 24,172 points on Wednesday. The Nikkei Index in Japan was flat in early trading session, hovering around the 70,700 level. South Korean shares fell on Wednesday, as investors took a wait-and-see ⁠stance ahead of Samsung Electronics' earnings release to assess the outlook for AI demand. The benchmark Kospi was down 43 points, or 0.62 percent, at 6,898 during the morning trading session. Financial markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen were closed on Wednesday for the final day of the National Day Golden Week holiday. (Agencies) Edited by Tony Sabine