Valve today announced through a press release that the upcoming DOTA 2 will be a free-to-play title, and in preparation for the DOTA 2's release, also announced the DOTA Store. When the DOTA 2 Store's doors open, it will offer items created by Valve, and members of the community.

These items can be used immediately, and will be carrier over after the public launch of DOTA 2. Early access to the game isn't required in order to purchase items before the launch. Gamers may, however, get into the game now by purchasing the DOTA 2 Early Access Bundle of items. IceFrog, design lead on DOTA 2 says:

The opening of the Dota Store is a big part of our final push to launch. With support for the Steam Workshop, the majority of the items made available on day one were created and being sold by members of the community. By making the game Free to Play, we hope to give gamers the ability to decide how - and how much - they want to invest in the game.

I imagine most of you are sick of the spam floating around on Facebook; I know I am. Part of the problem is due to OpenGraph and the ability to auto-share. This auto-sharing is the source of many of the annoying, spammy posts that keep showing up in my already crowded news feed. And they crowd out the really important things, such as TweakTown posts.

Facebook has come up with a solution to this problem: the "10 second rule." What this rule does is require a user to read a post or watch a video for at least 10 seconds before it can auto-share it out with the rest of your friends. According to a developer blog post, "Built-in watch and read actions can only be published after someone engages with the content for 10 or more seconds. If a video is shorter than 10 seconds, the viewer must watch the entire video."

The frictionless sharing that Facebook introduced a year ago was helpful in gaining views for integrated services, but it has been taken advantage of since then. Thankfully, Facebook has decided to try curbing it with this new rule. Facebook is also requiring developers to allow access to app content without auto-sharing it. It will be interesting to see if the amount of spam is cut down due to these new changes.

Think your home internet connection is fast? How about your work connection? How about you try 4700Mbps on for size. That's the new speed that has been reached by a German ISP using existing cable network infrastructure. This speed is incredible considering that most PCs only feature Gigabit Ethernet and this would manage to flood that.

Kabel Deutschland, a German cable operator, is claiming to have created a real-world download speed of 4,700Mbps. This ins't theoretical either as they are claiming this speed in a real-world test. Let's see just how fast that is. Four Gigabit connected computers would be unable to max the bandwidth available.

More incredibly, a connection of that speed, if you were able to use it all, could download a full 4.7GB DVD in just a mere 8 seconds. This title isn't the fastest real-world connection, as someone already provided a 40Gbps fiber connection to a residence, but this does use the existing cable networks. The test was carried out to test an upgraded network using the 862MHz spectrum, channel bonding, and the EuroDocsis 3.0 standard.

Not only are the browser wars heating up again, but apparently a new mapping war is heating up. The mapping world used to be just a few key players: Microsoft, Google, and a few other smaller ones. But with Apple now rumored to release its own solution at WWDC, the market is about to become a lot more complex.

It would appear that Google would like to steal some of Apple's thunder before its rumored release of a new mapping service. Google is hosting an invite-only press event in San Francisco to unveil "the next dimension of Google Maps." Considering Apple's new mapping service is expected to be 3D, does the mention of "dimension" in the invitation indicate Google is going to be adding more 3D features?

Google will also offer attendees "a behind-the-scenes look at Google Maps and share our vision. We'll also demo some of the newest technology and provide a sneak peek at upcoming features that will help people get where they want to go - both physically and virtually." Of course, Google already has the 3D Earth, but it requires a plug-in. Could this event be releasing one that runs without a plug-in?

AMD still has yet to release the desktop version of Trinity, but that hasn't stopped ECS from showing off its latest creation. ECS has released pictures and a bit of information about its upcoming motherboard designed for the AMD desktop Trinity APUs. The full-size ATX board is called the A85F2-A Deluxe and looks pretty good.

About all we know about the chipset is that it is an A85X chipset, which is one that AMD has yet to announce. We have a few more details available about the board such as it features six USB 3.0 ports, four of them near the I/O section. The board sports 7 SATA III 6Gbps ports just in case you have that many SSDs. That number also includes an external eSATA port.

The board also features two PCIe-x16 sots for graphics cards. ECS has also said that there are four more FM2 sockets in the works: the A75F2-A2, A75F2-M2, A55F2-A2, and A55F2-M3. Furthermore, the announcement says nothing about backwards compatibility, so for now, I would assume that it is not. And of course, a release date is missing as AMD has yet to release the Trinity APUs.

In a move that should help to keep innovation from being stifled, Judge Alsup, the judge presiding over the Oracle v Google trial, has ruled that sequence, structure, and organization (SSO) is not covered by today's copyright law. This, in turn, allowed him to dismiss the claims by Oracle of Google infringing on their copyright.

Instead of creating a massive precedent by making a wide ruling, Judge Alsup focused very narrowly on specific factors in the case which lead to the decision. This way he didn't create a massive precedent. He has also been very careful throughout the trial. So even though appeals are possible, it is likely his decision will be upheld.

From the judge's ruling:

It has been confirmed that Activision and Jason West and Vincent Zampella have settled their lawsuit out of court after a brief meeting on Thursday. This settlement brings to an end the two year lawsuit stemming from the termination of their employment. There was a lot of he said she said, but in the end, it seems to boil down to the fact Activision didn't want to pay them royalties.

The settlement terms, as par for the course, were not discussed and are highly secretive. This settlement also settles another lawsuit Activision was involved with. This other lawsuit was over royalties as well. When West and Zampella left, 40 or more developers left shortly after. They too filed a lawsuit saying they didn't get their royalty checks.

"All parties have reached a settlement in the dispute, the terms of which are strictly confidential," said Robert Schwartz, an attorney representing West and Zampella. West was in the courtroom, but only grinned widely as he left. Others in the game industry watched closely as it could produce some new case law that would affect somehow.

Ahead of Computex next week, Intel have released details on 14 new dual-core Ivy Bridge-based processors. Core i5 and i7 processors will be among the first to drop, with Core i3 variants arriving later this year.

The Core i3 processors will also be joined with new Pentiums and Celerons, too. Out of the 14 new dual-core processors, six of them are desktop-grade, which means the remaining 8 of them are destined to mobile and ultra-low voltage. Ultra-low voltage chips sport a "U" in their name, which gives their identity away.

With Computex happening next week, we should expect to see a slew of Ultrabooks sporting the new ultra-low voltage Core processors. We should have a bunch of hands-on talk with various models, chips, Ultrabooks and so forth, so check back each and everyday next week for our coverage of Computex!

Apple's next-generation mobile operating system, iOS 6, is expected sometime in the coming months, but BGR is reporting about their Maps app which will support 3D mapping. Apple aren't using Google's mapping data this time around.

BGR has sourced some exclusive information, and photos, of Apple's new Mapps app, with the app featuring an updated user interface as well as a brand new navigation bar. This bar is said to be silver instead of blue. The current Maps app follows the normal blue iOS color scheme, but it looks like Apple could move toward a silver theme for iOS 6, like the iPad.

The iPhone Maps app has a floating 'locate me' button in the bottom left corner. In order to access 3D mode, you'll have to peel back the lower right corner of Maps. Once 3D has been enabled, you can switch in and out of 3D mode by tapping a 3D icon in the lower left hand corner. Apple's acquisition of C3 Technologies has helped them back 3D mapping into their Maps app, which should be a great feature in the new iPhone and iOS.

ASUS have introduced a new all-in-one PC featuring Intel's third-generation Core processors. The new ASUS ET2411 is a 23.6-inch Full HD multi-touch LED-backlit beast, sporting Windows 7, HDMI, and much more.

The touch-screen alone is something that makes the ET2411 standout. The ET2411 also comes with ASUS' SonicMaster Technology which boasts louder volumes, and improved clarity. The all-in-one PC can also be used as a secondary display on another PC by connecting other PCs, laptops or tablets through its HDMI input.

ASUS' ET2411 is also wall-mountable for those with a smaller apartment or house, or those wanting to have it look stylish. It can be specced with a Core i5 or i7, comes with 2GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB), 500GB HDD, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, DVD/Blu-ray drive, two USB 3.0 ports on the side, 3 USB 3.0 ports on the rear, HDMI-in and out, VGA, card reader, GbE connectivity, and a Kensington lock.