Microsoft (MSFT) may have barred HTC (2498) from participating in the first wave of Windows RT tablets, but that apparently hasn’t stopped the company from gearing up for the next wave. Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg that HTC “is working on a 12-inch device and a 7-inch version” of a Windows RT tablet “that can also make phone calls.” The planned seven-inch tablet, which will be unveiled alongside the 12-inch tablet some time in 2013, will be the first small Windows RT tablet to hit the market and go head-to-head with other popular small tablets such as the Google (GOOG) Nexus 7 and the iPad mini.

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It’s not just know-nothing bloggers who think Microsoft’s (MSFT) Surface is overpriced — some tech industry analysts think so as well. Per Business Insider, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu sent a note to investors on Thursday saying that the Surface’s “high pricing could prove to be a fatal mistake and relegate it to be a niche No. 4 or No. 5 player.” Wu says that after the iPad, he expects Google’s (GOOG) Nexus 7 and Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle Fire to outperform the Surface unless Microsoft significantly cuts its pricing. Wu thinks Microsoft should have sold the Surface for just $300 with the Touch Cover keyboard pad included. Read

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Earlier this week, Microsoft Israel released an automation app for Android named on{X}. As you can see from Microsoft's promo video above, the app works in conjunction with the recently launched on{X} website and allows users to remotely program their Android phones to respond to certain situations. You do this by selecting from a list of pre-made recipes or writing out your own recipe using a JavaScript API. A recipe is a conditional trigger that requires a certain action to activate it. This action can be anything from picking the phone up, to getting a text message. So, for instance, you could write a recipe that opened a specific webpage whenever you unlocked your phone or one that told your camera to turn on whenever you phone was put into landscape mode. On{X} gives you access to almost all of your device's sensors and functions, and you're really only limited by your javascript programming skills.

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