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World of Warcraft's Stormwind Keep gets a price tag
Have you ever sat down with a realtor and tried to haggle down the price of a house based on the fact that it previously housed a scheming black dragon? Hopefully not, as black dragons do not actually exist. But if you have, you'll be happy to know that World of Warcraft's Stormwind Keep has now been priced out by what we are assured are reputable realtors with an eye toward setting this in-game structure's retail price in US dollars. About $10 million, as it happens. So why? Well, based on how much space it seems to cover and the value of a comparable real-world castle in Wales, the Keep winds up with a fairly modest price tag for a castle. Then again, there's only one accessible floor, and as we mentioned it does have a bit of a problem with dragons. (Exterminators can never really get all the eggs out.) So if you find yourself transported to Azeroth with $10 million that becomes the equivalent in gold, you can walk up and... well... not buy it, because it's not for sale. But you'd know how much it was worth.
Intel targets Bay Trail '2 in 1' tablet / laptops for the holidays starting at $399
Intel is in the middle of its Computex 2013 presentation, and it's already putting a target price for some of those tablet / laptops we're expecting around the holidays: $399. While more premium experiences will be powered by Intel's fourth generation Core "Haswell" CPU, the quad-core Atom "Bay Trail" are going in cheaper ultrathin and light notebooks with touchscreens with 2 in 1 editions swinging the keyboard out of the way for use as tablets. That puts them slightly above the $200 floor predicted by Intel execs for basic touchscreen laptops, we'll see if any of the numerous OEMs on stage can bring out convertible devices worth the extra cash this holiday season.
Seiki 50-inch 4K TV on sale for $1,299, offers Ultra HD for a regular HD price
The entry price for Ultra HDTV plunged by more than $10,000 earlier this week thanks to Sony's new 4K sets, but now it's going even lower with this model from Seiki. The brand is new to the US market and as such unfamiliar to most, but with a $1,300 listing on TigerDirect it's been lighting up AV enthusiast and deal-hunting forums alike. We haven't yet had a chance to see this display, but hope to take a look shortly. In the meantime, there are plenty of reasons not to be an early adopter -- the infamous eye charts suggest 4K's impact at this size may be reduced, it's an unknown company with unknown standards for quality and service, a new HDMI standard may be incoming and there's no content until the $699 FMP-X1 player arrives this summer -- but with a sub-$2K pricetag some would say you can't afford not to have an Ultra HD set in your possession. Those same people would also suggest inviting us over to watch the game (sports, console, but most likely a super high-res PC title if you can manage) on it, and indicate we are willing to bring refreshments. [Thanks, Eric Kotz]
Panasonic reveals pricing for (most) 2013 HDTVs, puts plasma R&D on ice
Panasonic's NYC press event had more than pricing for its media streamers and Blu-ray players, as the company also put tags on its 2013 HDTVs. While it wasn't ready to announces MSRPs for its top of the line ZT60 plasmas that impressed us greatly at CES, it did put prices and shipping windows on its other models (check after the break for a complete list). The former flagship VT60 series will be available in 55-, 60- and 65-inch versions later this month for $2,600, $3,000 and $3,600, respectively. Cheaper plasma models include the ST60 and S60 series, available in sizes up to 60-inches. Its top of the line WT60 LCD LED-lit models will also ship later this month, topped by the 55-inch version with a sticker price of $2,999. The bad news? While Panasonic's plasma manufacturing will continue, The Verge reports VP Kiyoshi Okamoto confirmed at the event that development has ceased on its plasma models, although some engineers have been shifted to work on OLED displays. We'll see if its recovery efforts and technological developments lead to new large-size OLEDs anytime soon, but for now it appears we're seeing the last of its efforts to push plasma technology forward.
Apple, Microsoft and Adobe give reasons for higher prices in Australia, can't guarantee you'll like them
Talk about ants in their pants. After giving regulators the runaround and repeatedly dodging the question of why they charge Australians so much more than Americans for the same products, senior executives from Apple, Microsoft and Adobe have finally been forced to sit down in front from a parliamentary committee. They weren't always especially helpful, mind you, but they did at least offer some justification as to why, on average, their products cost 50 percent more in that country. Read on for a quick rundown of who said what. [Image credit: Delimiter]
Huawei's 6.1-inch Ascend Mate priced in China, turns Yu into part-time model
Huawei is once again showing its aggressive side in the consumer space, this time by way of its 6.1-inch Ascend Mate which debuted at CES (with a little help from Huawei Device chairman Richard Yu, pictured above). What's new is that earlier today the company announced a price for this Android 4.1 tabletphone in China: ¥2,688 (about $430) unsubsidized, which is pretty competitive given the specs. Need a quick recap? The Mate comes with a 1.5GHz quad-core HiSilicon K3V2, 2GB of RAM, IPS display (but only with 720p resolution) with Gorilla Glass 2 and glove-friendly "Magic Touch" technology, up to 64GB of microSD expansion (on top of the native 4GB available space), 8-megapixel camera and a 4,050mAh battery. Better yet, this particular model comes with WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 pentaband radio, so it'll work nicely for frequent travelers. Interested buyers can hit the order button on Huawei's Vmall online store on the 26th next week.
Warren Buffett speaks out on Apple's cash pile
Warren Buffet was on CNBC yesterday, and the famous investor had some opinions about Apple, its stock price and the enormous pile of cash it's sitting on lately. His basic thoughts, not surprisingly, were just for Apple to keep making money. "The best thing you can do with a business is run it well," said Buffett, "and the shares will respond." Apple recently had a big investor try and sue them to get dividends from the company's cash back to the shareholders, but that lawsuit failed, and Buffett says he wouldn't have worried about it. "I would ignore him," Buffett said of the investor David Einhorn. "I would run the business in such a manner as to create the most value over the next five to 10 years." Which makes sense -- while stockholders might not be happy about not getting paid cash right now, no one will argue with an extremely valuable business that grows even more valuable in the future. Buffett also shared a story of Steve Jobs calling him when Apple made a little extra cash, and Buffett advised him to get some of the stock back. "When Steve called me, I said, 'Is your stock cheap?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Do you have more cash than you need?' He said, 'A little.' [laughs] I said, 'Then buy back your stock.' He didn't," Buffett remembers. And Buffett finished his story with a wise bit of advice for Tim Cook, Apple and really any investor out there: "If you could buy dollar bills for 80 cents, it's a very good thing to do." Obviously, Apple is working hard on R&D spending, and the company could go through its vast cash reserves very quickly if that's indeed what it wanted to do. But instead, the strategy should probably be to keep making the company even more valuable, because both Apple and its shareholders will benefit if that happens.
Xbox 360 250GB Spring Value Bundle includes Darksiders 2, Batman: Arkham City
Microsoft has announced a new 250GB Spring Value Bundle for the Xbox 360, available in "select major retail stores" and shipping out today for $300. In addition to the black Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive, the bundle includes a wireless controller, copies of Darksiders 2 and Batman: Arkham City (the latter in downloadable form), and a free month of Xbox Live.That's a nice deal, though you may prefer to wait until after you've heard about the next Xbox, which is expected to be announced later this year.
Runner2 out tomorrow on Wii U and Steam, Wednesday on Xbox Live
Gaijin Games' Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien sequel was submitted to its various platforms earlier this month, but we now have official dates and prices for the title, courtesy of Gaijin's co-founder Alex Neuse himself. CommanderVideo will start his run on the Wii U and Steam (for PC, Mac, and Linux) tomorrow, February 26, and then be available on Xbox Live on Wednesday of this week, February 27.The PSN, iOS, and Vita releases are coming later: Neuse says "hopefully March 5" for the PSN release, "but Early March for sure!" iOS and Vita versions are due out sometime this summer. The game will be $14.99 no matter what platform you buy it on, and Neuse notes that there's still a few hours for a Steam preorder if you want the various bonuses and discounts. If you've been waiting a long time to hear the voice of Charles Martinet narrate the long-awaited BIT.TRIP sequel, your wait is almost over.Update: March 5 on PSN is confirmed, according to Gaijin's other co-founder, Mike Roush.
Sony America head 'hopes' PlayStation 4 won't cost $599 at launch, says specs aren't finalized yet
Despite showing a variety of games running on the newly announced PlayStation 4, Sony PlayStation's US head Jack Tretton says the console's "still in development in terms of final specs and design." He told All Things D as much in an interview this morning; the PlayStation 4's specs were detailed in a press release by Sony last evening, which detail the internals as an 8-core 64-bit x86 "Jaguar" CPU built by AMD, a Radeon GPU comprised of 18 "compute units" which push out 1.84 TFLOPS, and 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. Tretton also said he "hopes" that the PlayStation 4 won't cost $599 at launch (the PlayStation 3 launched in two models, at $499 and $599). "When I think about the console, you open it up, you look at it, you certainly look at it when you insert a disc, but for most people, it's behind a cabinet or on a shelf somewhere and you spend all your time looking at the screen," Tretton said. Sony's focus last night, however, was all games. As for when we'll see the elusive box? "There will be multiple opportunities to share the look of the console between now and launch," he said, "We just didn't choose this first event as the time to show it." In speaking with Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida this morning, we confirmed that we'll get to go hands-on with the PlayStation 4 "by E3," which goes from June 11th to the 13th.
Adobe preemptively cuts prices to avoid wrath of Australian lawmakers
Adobe has suddenly knocked 20 percent off its prices in Australia just one day after it was summoned to publicly defend those prices in front of a parliamentary committee. The monthly fee for a subscription to Adobe's full Creative Cloud has dropped from AU$63 to AU$50, so it's now only $1 more than the US price when you factor in currency. The no-contract monthly cost has also fallen to match how much Americans pay -- from AU$95 to AU$75 -- which is exactly what Australian lawmakers have been demanding since 2011. We can't decide if this is a move of brilliant cunning on Adobe's part, or just a blatant effort to side-step blame for how much it's been charging up to this point. Either way, it puts Microsoft and Apple in a sticky situation, because they've been summoned to the same inquiry and may be left with fewer excuses to cling to.
Australian Parliament summons Apple, Microsoft, Adobe to justify higher prices
Had we been wild and spontaneous enough to buy a MacBook Air in Australia in 2011, we'd have been looking at a 15 percent premium over the US price. According to MacRumors, throwing some Adobe software into our antipodean shopping cart would have pushed that disparity even higher -- to as much as to 75 percent. Which is why the Australian Parliament has been investigating the way tech giants price their goods in that country, and why it has now formally summoned Apple, Microsoft and Adobe to come over and account for themselves in Canberra on March 22nd. Whether price differences are due to higher costs of taxes and warranties, as Apple has privately suggested in the past (see More Coverage), or whether there are more dubious reasons, this pile of laundry is about to get aired.
Rumor: PS4 in Japan later this year, will cost more than $400
The PlayStation 4 – which is currently expected to be announced on February 20 – will be available later on this year in both Japan and the US and will carry a hefty price, according to a translation of a report found in respected Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The Japanese version, says the translated report, will cost "greater than 40,000 yen," which means it will be more than $400 there.Asahi adds there will be a rush to meet sales demands on both sides of the world, but the paper doesn't specify a US price; however, the PlayStation 3 launched at $500 when it came to North America, and cost 49,980 yen in Japan, around $535. So Asahi's report suggests that whatever the next generation PlayStation's price is, it will likely be slightly cheaper than the PS3 was at launch.There's also no mention of a European launch, and the PS3's launch was indeed delayed in Europe by hardware shortages. Hopefully, Sony will clear all this up on February 20.
Nintendo's Iwata acknowledges slow Wii U sales, but no price drop is coming
Yesterday Nintendo revealed its new Wii U console was selling more slowly than it had anticipated, and today company President Satoru Iwata explained the issues to investors in more detail. What he made clear immediately, is that unlike the launch of its 3DS in 2011, Nintendo will not attempt to boost its sales by cutting the price anytime soon. So, how can the Wii U's fortunes be turned around? According to Iwata, the problem is a software lineup that has "not yet fully communicated the value of our product." The system updates we've already heard were in the works are expected to help in the short term. The plan is to earn 100 billion yen or more in the next fiscal year, with the 3DS already selling at a profit he hopes to return to a pattern of "Nintendo-like profits." As far as the Wii U, the plan is to strengthen its software lineup throughout the spring and summer, with more system exclusives arriving later in the year (announced last week on Nintendo Direct). The delayed Google Street View-powered Wii Street U update is expected to arrive in mid-February, and other demonstrations are planned for GDC in March as Nintendo attempts to capitalize on an internet connection rate of 74 percent. He also referenced the planned integration of its handheld and console divisions, intended to make software and apps more portable between devices.
Nissan drops Leaf price by 2,500 pounds in the UK
Just a few weeks after Nissan dropped the price of the Leaf in the US, eco-minded car buyers across the pond will be able to snag theirs for a little less as well. Indeed, the popular Japanese EV is now £23,490 ($37,115), which is £2,500 less than the initial sticker price. As with the stateside version, some of the cost reduction stems from local manufacturing -- Nissan hopes to start churning out the latest Leafs from its Sunderland UK factory in a few months. The company has also introduced a 6.9 percent financing rate, plus a lease option of around £239 ($375) a month to sweeten the pot. If that sounds like an enticing proposition, then check out the press release below for more details.
RIM lowers minimum app prices on BlackBerry World
BlackBerry-toting penny-pinchers have cause to rejoice, as RIM is introducing lower price tiers in BlackBerry World, starting with the British Pound and Euro. New price tags have yet to take hold across the board, but the the UK will see their lowest level fall from £1.00 to £0.75 (around $1.20). When it comes to the Euro, prices will vary by country, and we spotted apps as low as €0.75 ($1) on Spain's version of the shop. According to RIM, the tweak takes currency exchange rates and VAT requirements into account, and is an effort to gain a competitive edge and catch the eyes of consumers. It's certainly a far cry from how things used to be.
PSA: Windows 8 and Pro upgrades will jump to $120 and $200 on February 1st
This should come as no surprise -- we reported the increase back in October -- but Windows 8 upgrades will become a bit more pricey come February 1st. That means you have the better part of two weeks to take advantage of introductory online upgrade pricing of $40 (for the Pro version), before the sticker jumps to 200 bucks. Fortunately, you'll be able to utilize current pricing for the rest of January, including a DVD Pro upgrade available at retailers for $70. After the switchover, you'll pay $200 for a Pro upgrade, a standard edition of Windows 8 will run you $120, the Pro Pack will be available for $100 (upgrading from standard to Pro) and a Media Center Pack will cost $10. You could, of course, stick it out with Windows 7 or Vista or even XP for the indefinite future, but if a fresh OS is in the cards, now'd be as good a time as any to make the jump.
Nissan knocks $6,400 off Leaf sticker price, sells S model for $28,800
That lower-cost Nissan Leaf we heard about? It just got a sticker price. Savvy car buyers will be able to kick off their haggling at $28,800, the Leaf S' MSRP. Don't expect the price war to last long though -- dealers will waste no time leveraging relevant tax credits, which in California, can dip the car's price as low as $18,800. The price reduction hits the entire line, too -- pricing the Leaf SV and SL at $31,820 and $34,840, respectfully. Nissan attributes the savings to local construction, dodging foreign currency fluctuations by building the vehicles in its existing Tennessee facilities. The move puts the Leaf a little closer to competing with its gas-guzzling cousins, and goes a long way to placate EV buyers put off by the car's 2012 price hike. Still too pricey? Don't worry -- Nissan promises that you can still lease it, too. Read on for the official press release.
DirecTV 'price adjustment' will raise rates about 4.5 percent in February
DirecTV announced today that it will raise its prices effected February 7, 2013, with the average customer's bill going up about 4.5 percent. The card shown above displays the new rates (hit the source link to see them all) which it claims are up less than cable competitor's price hikes, and are pushed by programming costs that have gone up eight percent. The last time we noted an increase in prices, DirecTV had just added a slew of HD channels. This time, it comes after a year that's seen a number of DVR upgrades, more new channels, a lower price for Sunday Ticket, the launch DirecTV Everywhere features and, of course, a battle over programming costs with Viacom. We predicted that last bit would be reflected sooner or later in a pricing adjustment and it appears the time has come. So tell us DirecTV customers, are the new features, and keeping all those channels worth an increase to you, or are you thinking of moving on?
Microsoft Surface Pro launching in January starting at $899
Microsoft has pinpointed the price points for both versions of its forthcoming Surface Pro tablet, which is set to release sometime in January. When the new year does roll around, the 64GB Surface Pro will cost $899, while its 128GB twin will go for $999.Both versions come with a stylus and otherwise identical internal specifications, although neither SKU includes a Touch/Type Cover, which costs an extra $120/$130 respectively. What your money does net you, however, is a higher-resolution screen than the Surface Pro's baby sister, a Core i5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics thingy, 4 gigs of RAM and (most importantly) the full version of Windows 8 Pro.Due to its upgraded internal doohickies, the Pro's battery life is expected to be around half of that enjoyed by the Surface RT, which translates to a little over four and one-half hours of doin' stuff, according to our friends at Engadget. Which, should be plenty of time for the person you're sitting next to on that business flight to ask what kind of iPad you're using.
