Ahh i see from an Engadget article that the $199 price comes from anonymous sources that say that price was said by MS Execs at the recent TechReady15 conference.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/14/m...t-surface-199/
That particular conference is for employees only. If Mr Wang from Acer heard it from one of those employees directly instead of the internet grapvine I wonder if that could be considered industrial espionage?