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The least expensive Microsoft Surface tablet will be priced more in line with a low-end laptop than a $199 Google Nexus 7, one analyst argues.

Microsoft's imminent Surface RT tablet will priced between $399 and $499, excluding the smart cover/keyboard, according to Sameer Singh, an analyst with India-based consulting group Finvista Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions consulting group.

And the Pro version -- due next year -- will fall in the $799 to $899 range, also excluding the smart cover/keyboard.

Surface RT uses an inexpensive Nvidia ARM chip and won't run older Windows software. The pricier … Read more

Imagine your virtual character relaxing in the confines of the massive World of Warcraft city Orgrimmar, when suddenly, zero health points. Upon spinning the mouse cursor around, everything around you also simultaneously perishes. Not long after the death, countless skeletons of fallen players stack up upon the city streets.

While this sounds like a bad dream that might strike someone who plays World of Warcraft too much, the deadly scenario played out yesterday across many WoW servers around the world. Entire Horde and Alliance megacities -- including Stormwind -- suddenly became graveyards for thousands afflicted by an in-game exploit carried out by malicious players. … Read more

Enough with having separate Web programming tutorials from Google, Apple, Opera, Mozilla, and Microsoft.

These five major browser makers, along with Facebook, Adobe Systems, Nokia, and Hewlett Packard, have become stewards of a new effort to centralize developer resources at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This Web Platform Docs project will include not just help on to use a bewildering array of new Web technologies, but also will detail which ones are accepted standards, how well the various tools work across multiple browsers, and how stable the standards are.

"A key part of this project is that it … Read more

Apache, the most commonly used software to house Web sites, will ignore Microsoft's decision to disable ad-tracking technology by default in Internet Explorer 10.

Microsoft set IE10 and Windows 8 so that, by default, Web sites that observe the Do Not Track (DNT) standard won't track people's behavior. The move was made to "better protect user privacy," the company said.

But protecting user privacy turns out to be a thorny matter in practice -- at least when a standard has to be palatable to advertisers as well as browser makers and people surfing the Web. … Read more

Intel will disclose a new series of ultra-power-efficient chips aimed at tablets and convertibles at the Intel Developer Forum next week.

The Intel 4th Generation Core chips, codenamed "Haswell," will come close to cutting the power consumption in half compared with the most power-efficient mainstream 3rd Generation Core "Ivy Bridge" chips today.

Ivy Bridge chips used today in the skinniest, lightest laptops like the MacBook Air and Hewlett-Packard's Envy Spectre XT are rated at 17 watts.

The new chips, due in the second half of 2013, will be rated initially at 10 watts -- that … Read more

World of Warcraft fans rejoice! Blizzard Entertainment released a trailer for Mists of Pandaria -- the highly anticipated expansion pack for the addictive online game -- yesterday at Gamescom 2012 in Cologne, Germany.

The trailer reveals the opening cinematic sequence to Mists of Pandaria. Described as a lost continent shrouded in fog, Pandaria is inhabited by a race called the Pandaren. The upcoming release is the fourth expansion pack of the uber-popular game.… Read more

I would like to talk about how the Hart Audio D&W Aural Pleasure loudspeakers feature crystal-clear highs and sternum-shaking lows, but I can't stop staring at them long enough to actually care how they sound.

The speakers look like a cross between a jelly bean and something an elephant left behind. But really, these speakers aren't about the looks. They're about being able to tell people you spent $4.7 million on 18-karat-gold speakers.… Read more

Some "portable" headphone amplifiers aren't all that small, but the Firestone Audio Fireye Mini is downright tiny.

It's just 1.5 inches by 1 inch by 0.5 inch, and the soft-rubber-shelled amp weighs almost nothing, so you can hang it off your iPod, iPad, iPhone or any device with a 3.5mm headphone output. Plugging in a headphone turns the Mini on and lights a bright blue LED, unplugging turns the amp off. Charge the Mini via the USB connection and it'll play for up to 24 hours. It's available in green, gray, purple, red, and white.

The Mini is no giant-killer, but it definitely bumped up the detail and resolution of my Monster Turbine Copper, Ultimate Ears UE-4, and vPulse in-ear headphones.… Read more

Congrats to David B. of Manchester, Conn., for winning a Swann MP3 DJ Doorbell in last week's giveaway. This week winner's gets a twofer: a CD by hit U.K. pop/soul recording artist Emeli Sande, and a stylish pair of Bowers & Wilkins headphones for listening to it.

A legendary name in British hi-fi, Bowers & Wilkins is known for making speakers used in many of the world's top studios, including the Beatles' favorite, Abbey Road. You'll be getting a pair of fancy Bowers & Wilkins' P5 noise-isolating headphones, which CNET's Steve Guttenberg, aka The Audiophiliac, loves for their warm, rich, and clear sound (he recently called them out in a post on three awesome-sounding on-ear headphones).

Emeli Sande's debut album, "Our Version of Events," topped the charts across the pond and has gotten raves from reviewers. It hit the U.S. last month, and you'll be getting a signed copy. … Read more