For the first time in as long as we can remember, Counter-Strike has been knocked off (da fark there’s still people playing this game!) the top spot on the Steam most-played list. Team Fortress 2 has stolen the crown. That means that overnight, TF2 has leapt from a top ten position to the very top, gaining tens of thousands of players in the process.

It’s a resounding indication of the success of TF2′s move to free-to-play. Counter-Strike is routinely the most played game on Steam, often boasting twice the number of players of its nearest rivals. For a four-year-old online shooter to suddenly leapfrog the Counter-Strike is a big deal. Read more…

Industry trade website Develop-Online has revealed in an interview with Valve’s Robin Walker that Team Fortress 2 is now permanently free to play, and will solely be supported by in-game item purchases.

TF2′s switch to F2P was rumoured and expected, but perhaps not this soon. Walker says that Valve had been exploring the idea since September 2010. “We’ve been toying with the idea of making Team Fortress free-to-play ever since the Mann-conomy update,” Walker said. “The data we got back from that update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product.” Read the rest of the interview with Walker at Develop-Online.

Prior to today, Team Fortress 2 was in the middle of a “free week.” The game’s Über Update should deploy later this evening.

We already know that Apple is testing ARM processors on their MacBook lineups, and now it seemed that others are also following the upcoming trend. Unnamed sources are reporting that industry heavyweights Samsung, Toshiba, Acer and Asus are currently working on notebooks using ARM-based processors, one of which is a 13-inch solution from Asus using Nvidia’s ARM-based Tegra and Google’s Android OS.

But the sources also pointed out that ARM-based notebooks sporting an Android OS hit the market a few years back under the “smartbook” name. These essentially tanked because consumers expected the same compatibility and performance seen with traditional laptops. However, this new round of ARM-based notebooks should be more successful given that the processors are multi-core and storage capacities have inflated. And thanks to the beefed up processing capabilities, these notebooks will have an enhanced user interface. Read more…

Still not clear on what your gaming options will be like with Windows Phone Mango? Then Microsoft’s now got you covered with a fairly extensive overview of its new Games Hub, which has actually been tweaked a bit further from earlier previews it’s offered. One of the biggest changes is that the Hub now includes features previously relegated to the separate Xbox Live Extras app, including improved Xbox Live messaging, integrated achievements (complete with comparison views with your friends), and the ability to edit your Xbox Live profile — not to mention fully animated 3D avatars. The Hub also boasts a new Collection view that promises to let you more easily manage your installed Windows Phone games, and it’s literally been brightened up a bit across the board. Check the link below for the full details dude.

SOURCE via Microsoft

Hate to follow the crowd with the iPad? If so, Archos has a new pair emerging from Paris today, the 80 G9 and 101 G9. Predictably, the biggest differentiator between the two is the screen size, with the former offering an 8-inch panel with a 1024 x 768 screen resolution and the latter stepping up to a 10.1-incher (1280 x 800). Both of ‘em are proudly using Seagate’s 7mm Momentus Thin in order to scale to 250GB, but of course, only time will tell how a power-hungry HDD will do in tablet form factor, or if that’s too big a 16GB + microSD arrangement is available for those who aren’t feeling a 250GB HDD.

Under the hood, you’ll find a dual-core OMAP 4 processor (1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9), support for Flash, access to the Android Market and a full-size USB port — one that’s good for accepting the outfit’s new G9 3G WWAN stick ($49). You’ll also get an HDMI output, support for 1080p playback and a pay-as-you-go option with the aforesaid 3G dongle. The duo is scheduled to go on sale at the end of September (you know, just a month or two before Ice Cream Sandwich makes Honeycomb look like old hat), with the 80 G9 going for $279 and the 101 G9 for $349. Don’t ever say Archos’ accountants didn’t look out for you.

Leica’s new M9-P digital rangefinder taps the till at $7,995 — the same price the original M9 commanded when it was released in 2009 — but you don’t stay in the business of making pricey cameras for nearly a century without doing something right. The new version adds a virtually unbreakable sapphire crystal covering on the LCD, produced using diamond cutting tools, and an anti-reflective coating. The body includes a vulcanite leatherette body finish, for a more secure grip, but curiously lacks the familiar red Leica logo and M9 lettering on the front, in line with the camera’s elegant “minimalist styling.” Beyond that, the P includes the same full-frame 18 megapixel sensor featured on the M9, an “almost silent” shutter, and is compatible with Leica’s full range of astronomically expensive M lenses. The M9-P will be available in black or chrome for $7,995 beginning next month or $15,990 for two — since we know you’re planning to buy both, so it’s still pretty much the same anyway.

SOURCE via Leica

It’s always a good idea to take benchmarks with a grain of salt — their synthetic tests don’t always match up with real-world performance. But, we wouldn’t blame you if you wrote them off completely after spying these results from Android Community forum member Simms22. Simms took his Nexus S, blessed it with a little Cyanogen Mod 7 pixie dust, overclocked it to 1.544GHz, and made a few other tweaks for good measure. The results? An absolutely unbelievable score of 10,082 in Smartbench2011.

To put that in perspective, the 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos powering the Galaxy S II hit only 3,053 — and remember, the Nexus S is working with a one core handicap. The creator of Smartbench has acknowledged there are bugs to be worked out (did besting the Xoom by 400 percent give it away?) but we’re not quite ready to dismiss the numbers game completely — then what excuse would we have for publishing copious amounts of bar charts?

Of course, the creator of Smartbench2011 has noted the bug and confirms that he’s working on a new version, 1.2.1, which should fix the bugs.

SOURCE via Android Community

In the Android realm, Swype has been life-changing for many; of course, reverting back to the messaging ways of old has been a must when jumping ship to WP7. Now, gesture tracing crosses the aisle, and it’s hopping over to Microsoft’s turf courtesy of Invoke IT’s Sliding Keyboard. With the look of the regular ol’ WP7 keyboard, this set of arm floaties records the user tracing out text, just like ex-Android fans are accustomed to. The company goes a bit further by offering a pair of goggles — in the form of Bing search, text messaging and email options along the bottom of the app. Sure, it’s seeing its fair share of first-revision bugs (word recognition seems a bit poor based on early reviews), but at a cool $1.29 (and a free trial preceding that), it’s a good bit bargain, right?

SOURCE via Zune Market