Xbox Surface: Microsoft's 7-inch gaming tablet  —  Microsoft's secret project for a mini Xbox  —  Microsoft is building its own 7-inch gaming tablet.  Multiple sources familiar with plans within Redmond have confirmed to The Verge that initial hardware planning for an Xbox Surface is underway.

Apple Said to Be Exploring Switch From Intel Chips for the Mac  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) is exploring ways to replace Intel Corp. (INTC) processors in its Mac personal computers with a version of the chip technology it uses in the iPhone and iPad, according to people familiar with the company's research.

Exclusive: EU regulators to accept Apple, publishers e-book offer  —  (Reuters) - EU regulators are set to accept an offer by Apple and four book publishers allowing Amazon and other retailers to sell e-books more cheaply than Apple to end an antitrust investigation and avoid fines, two sources said on Monday.

Mary Meeker Gives Mid-Year Internet Trends Report: Android Adoption Ramping Up 6X Faster Than iPhone  —  KPCB partner Mary Meeker usually publishes her famed Internet Trends report once a year, but gave a small San Francisco crowd a mid-year update tonight.  The biggest new facts?

Amazon Testing a $7.99 Per Month Prime Subscription  —  Reader Scott noticed that Amazon is now testing a $7.99 per month Prime subscription (instead of $79 per year), a price that is very familiar to Netflix and Hulu Plus subscribers.  I was able to confirm the pricing on the Amazon website and capture a screen shot:

AT&T prices Lumia 920 and 8GB HTC 8X at $100, Lumia 820 at $50, Nokias due on Friday  —  AT&T is finally spilling the beans on how much its Windows Phone 8 handsets will set you back if you plump for a two-year deal.  Nokia's Lumia 920 costs $99.99, $50 less than previously speculated, and will come with a free wireless charging plate.

E-Mail Voting Fails Some New Jersey Residents  —  Bouncing e-mail addresses, personal Hotmail accounts.  “It's really maddening,” says Tanz.  —  New Jersey's last-minute offer of e-mail voting to displaced residents was greeted by concern by security experts, who warn that e-mail offers a fast track to voter fraud.

Yep, It's Coming: Google Wallet's Help Site Mentions The “Google Wallet Card”  —  Just in case you needed more proof that the leaked news revealing a forthcoming physical Google Wallet Card is indeed legit, you can just visit Google's own Help section on its Google Wallet website to catch a reference to the yet-to-be announced addition.

Facebook For iOS Gets Photo Filters And Multi-Shot Sharing, Beating Twitter To The Punch  —  Don't trust the release notes.  Facebook has just added photo filters to its iOS app, though the feature wasn't announced in the version 5.1 “What's New” that highlights multi-photo uploads, slide-out chat buddy list, and Gift giving.

Imagination buys chip design firm MIPS for $60m, 498 patents sold to industry consortium for $350m  —  More M&A activity in the wonderful world of chips.  MIPS Technologies has been for sale for quite a while, but now things are finally moving: the semiconductor design company formerly known …

If You Want to Stay Out of Jail, Don't Instagram Your Ballot  —  A not-so-surprising thing happened this morning: My Instagram feed morphed from photos of dogs, kids, fancy coffees and food porn into a stream of people's voting ballots.  —  Photo courtesy of Instagram.

Microsoft Surface RT More Profitable than iPad, Teardown Analysis Reveals  —  The Surface RT model with the minimum 32 gigabytes of NAND flash memory and an optional black Touch Cover carries a bill of materials (BOM) of $271.00, according to a preliminary estimate from the IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Service.

Announcing Instagram Profiles on the Web!  —  You've asked for Instagram on the web and we've listened.  Over the next few days, we'll be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web!  Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio …

Powered By Nokia, Yandex Rolls Out Maps Of US And Europe  —  Yandex is rolling out maps of the US and Europe, powered by Nokia's mapping division Navteq.  The company is also introducing a Turkish mapping site.  —  Yandex says that its maps have an audience of 16.5 million on the PC and an additional 6.6 million users in mobile.

Xbox team's ‘consumer detector’ would dis-Kinect freeloading TV viewers  —  A newly surfaced patent filing from Microsoft's Xbox Incubation team details one of the new innovations they've been thinking about.  This one could be very popular among major movie and television studios.

Microsoft Surface tested as balloting device in Virginia  —  Here's an interesting milestone for Microsoft Surface: One of the tablets is being tested in Virginia this week as a balloting device for state and national elections there.  —  The test is being conducted by Democracy Live …

Proposal to Bolster Online Privacy Rules for Children Draws Opposition  —  Washington is pushing Silicon Valley on children's privacy, and Silicon Valley is pushing back.  —  Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter have all objected to portions of a federal effort to strengthen online privacy protections for children.

Apple already catches up with fourth-gen iPad demand, now ‘in stock’  —  Last time we checked in, the new fourth-generation iPad with Retina display was listed as shipping in “3-5 business days” from Apple's U.S. website.  That was down from the estimated one-week shipping time Apple had listed …

AOL beats expectations in Q3: Revenue flat at $531.7m, net income of $20.8m  —  Internet media and services company AOL this morning reported its financial results for the third quarter of this year, reporting earnings of 22 cents per share compared to a loss per share of 2 cents in Q3 2011.

Staples to have Amazon lockers in U.S. stores: spokeswoman  —  (Reuters) - Staples Inc, the largest U.S. office supply retailer, has agreed to install “Amazon Lockers” in its U.S. stores, a Staples spokeswoman said on Monday.  —  The Amazon lockers at Staples will allow online shoppers …

Tech Companies Really Want You To Vote  —  Google, Facebook and others have all rolled out ambitious campaigns to get their users to vote today.  —  Google  —  It's perhaps no surprise that Google has the most ambitious and comprehensive election hub as it's perhaps the most vocal big tech company when it comes to political issues.

Smart meters not so clever about privacy, researchers find  —  A University of South Carolina study found smart meters transmitting plain text information that could be used against home owners By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service November 05, 2012 12:20 PM ET Researchers at the University …