IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 17/05/2013

NPD: Nearly a third of all smartphone sales in the US are prepaid
New data from market researcher NPD shows sales of prepaid smartphones are increasing at a rapid pace. Smartphone sales overall shot up 42 percent in the first quarter compared to the same time last year with 36 percent of the unit volume increase represented by prepaid smartphone sales.







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$1100 MSI laptop packs Radeon HD 8970M, AMD claims fastest mobile GPU
In 2012, AMD began shipping its mobile line-up of Radeon HD 8000M-series just in time for the arrival of 2013. AMD unveiled today its latest addition to that mobile GPU line-up, its upcoming series of Radeon HD 8900M chips. The Radeon 8900M-series flagship, the 8970M, packs twice the number...







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Google to ship custom Galaxy S4 starting June 26th for $649
Google I/O is in full swing and as expected, the search giant is dominating today’s tech news. We’ve just received word that Google has unveiled a version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 that’s unlike any other. That’s because the handset sports a pure version of Android that comes with an unlocked...







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Gran Turismo 6 gets official, heading to the PlayStation 3 this winter
Gran Turismo 6 is now official as the hit franchise will be racing onto the PlayStation 3 later this year. Versions for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita have not been announced although we fully expect Polyphony Digital to bring the game to both platforms in time for the lucrative...







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Google I/O 2013 Roundup: Learn about all the company's updates and announcements
Google will be live streaming their 3-hour I/O opening keynote Wednesday at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. Tune in to watch the full coverage here. We'll be posting periodic updates summarizing the most important bits and linking to more in depth coverage throughout the day.





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Watch the Google I/O 2013 opening keynote live
Google will be live streaming their 3-hour I/O opening keynote Wednesday at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. Tune in to watch the full coverage here. We'll be posting periodic updates summarizing the most important bits and linking to more in depth coverage throughout the day.







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Google launches All Access music subscription service at I/O
The streaming music scene is heating up rather quickly as multiple big tech players are trying their luck in the industry. The latest on that front is Google's All Access streaming subscription service that was just launched at Google I/O. Early reports claim the service is like a blend of...







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Google Play Store update brings UI tweaks, more syncing options
Google's I/O conference is underway, but before it even begun, the company rolled out a new version of the Google Play Store. The update, which was first reported by Android Police, brings some nice visual improvements and plenty of fresh features that help improve the core functionality of the shop....







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HP unveils new Android and Windows hybrid notebooks
HP on Wednesday unveiled two new hybrid laptops, the Android-powered Slatebook x2 and the HP Split x2 that runs Windows 8. The former system appears to be positioned to compete directly with the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity while the Windows machine consists of a 13.3-inch tablet with a keyboard dock.







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PayPal rolls out free mobile payment processing
Processing credit cards can eat up a good chunk of businesses' profits. Fees add up quickly, which is one of the reasons why some places still impose minimum purchase amounts for credit card transactions. With this in mind, PayPal has announced that it is offering free mobile card processing through...







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Microsoft to replace Points system with real currency, gift cards
Microsoft is doing away with the points system used to purchase virtual goods on the Xbox gaming console. In its place, Redmond will adopt a gift card system according to sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans as first reported by The Verge.







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EA is developing Frostbite Go game engine for Android and iOS
A pretty poorly kept secret in mobile gaming is now official as EA’s DICE is working on a mobile version of the popular Frostbite game engine according to a recent update on the company’s website. Frostbite Go is being developed for all major platforms although only Android and iOS are...







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Mozilla releases Firefox 21 for PC, Mac, Linux and Android
Mozilla recently launched version 21 of Firefox for Windows, Mac and Linux. The updated browser brings a number of new features including support for Mozilla’s Social API which allows social providers to integrate directly with the browser and display select content on the sidebar or toolbar.







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TechSpot PC Buying Guide

The TechSpot PC Buying Guide provides you with an in-depth list of today's best hardware, spanning four unique and yet typical budgets. Whether you are a first time builder seeking guidance or a seasoned enthusiast, we've got you covered.







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8 Free to Play Games That Are Too Good to Be True

The gaming world is making a dramatic shift towards free to play games. Of course, full price retail titles still make up for a majority of releases on the PC and most other platforms, but playing a quality game without cracking your wallet open is a completely viable option nowadays.







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Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review

'The game is stupid,' Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon creative director Dean Evans proudly proclaimed during a recent press event — not foolish pride, but pride in foolishness. The story unfolds through a series of 2D cutscenes that wouldn't be out-of-place in an NES-era adventure (well, except for the foul language and... other things). And when those scenes end, it's into a day-glo nightmare from the early days of MTV.







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Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review

If the Galaxy S III was Samsung's crowning achievement, the Galaxy S 4 is the first defense of the throne. Arriving on the heels of one rival's flagship, the Galaxy S 4 will prove whether Samsung is continuing its trend of advancement or becoming just as predictable as the old guard that it mocked. So naturally we must ask: just how good is the Samsung Galaxy S 4?







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AMD Radeon HD 7990 Review

Although it's been over a year since AMD launched the Radeon HD 7970, we are just getting an official dual-GPU version. The Radeon HD 7990 takes a pair of 7970 GPUs with overclocked cores and memory, packing 8.2 TFLOPS computer power, 6GB GDDR5 and an upgraded PEX bridge to connect the two GPUs.







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Sapphire Edge VS8 Mini PC Review

The idea of shrinking hardware hasn't been overlooked by manufacturers as several are now feature space-saving designs based on mobile hardware. Such is the case with Sapphire's new Edge VS8 mini-PC powered by AMD's A8 APU.







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GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost & SLI Performance Review

At $170, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost sits between the Radeon HD 7790 and the 7850. In terms of performance, we actually expect the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost to be a lot faster than the GTX 650 Ti, even when it's based on the same GK106 architecture.







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LG Lucid 2 Smartphone Review

The Lucid 2 sports 4G LTE, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, plenty of software additions courtesy of LG, and a favorable price for someone looking for a new Android smartphone. You may be surprised to learn how tall the Lucid 2 can stand against the rest of the mid-range pack.







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History of the Modern Graphics Processor, Part 4

Before 2006 there was no point in adding undue complexity to GPUs by enlarging the die area. With DX10's arrival, vertex and pixel shaders maintained a large level of common function, so moving to a unified shader arch eliminated a lot of unnecessary duplication of processing blocks. The first GPU to utilize this architecture was Nvidia's iconic G80.







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LG 29EA93 Review: Are Ultra Wide Monitors Next?

The 29EA93 is LG's first entry into the nascent category of ultra-wide consumer displays. While the 29EA93 seems suitably equipped to watch movies with its expansive 21:9 aspect ratio, how does it fare against other types of computer use? Could it be a worthy replacement for your trusty dual-monitor setup?







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History of the Modern Graphics Processor, Part 3

With the turn of the century the graphics industry bore witness to further consolidation. Where 3dfx was once a byword for raw performance, its strengths before its dismissal laid in its full screen antialiasing image quality. By the time 2001 dawned, the PC graphics market consisted of a discrete card duopoly (Nvidia and ATI), with both of them in addition to Intel supplying the vast majority of integrated graphics chipsets.







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Synology DiskStation DS2413+ NAS Review

The DS2413+ is Synology's newest twelve-bay DiskStation NAS for small to medium sized businesses who need loads of storage. Along with supporting up to 48TB worth of drives out of the box, the DS2413+ can be paired with the company's DX1211 expansion enclosure that houses an extra 12 drives, doubling the maximum storage capacity of the base unit to a whopping 96TB.







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History of the Modern Graphics Processor, Part 2

Voodoo Graphics revolutionized personal computer graphics nearly overnight and rendered many other designs obsolete, including a vast swathe of 2D-only graphics producers. The 3D landscape in 1996 favoured S3 with around 50% of the market. That was to change soon, however. It was estimated that 3Dfx accounted for 80-85% of the 3D accelerator market during the heyday of Voodoo's reign.







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BioShock Infinite Performance, Benchmarked

Along with DX11 effects, folks playing Bioshock Infinite on PC can look forward to higher resolution textures and a healthy range of customization. Infinite comes with six graphical presets that cover a broad performance spectrum, not to mention individual control over settings like anti-aliasing, texture detail and filtering, dynamic shadows, post-processing, and so on.







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Razer Edge Pro Gaming Tablet Review

Like many PC gamers, I've often wished a machine capable of putting the power of a gaming rig in a portable device. After a week with Razer's new Edge gaming tablet, I realize what I really wanted was to play Bioshock Infinite in the bathroom without burning my thighs. All hail Razer, deliverer of dreams.







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The History of the Modern Graphics Processor

While 3D graphics turned a fairly dull PC industry into a light and magic show, they owe their existence to generations of innovative endeavour. Over the next few weeks we'll be taking an extensive look at the history of the GPU, going from the early days of 3D consumer graphics, to the 3Dfx Voodoo game-changer, the industry's consolidation at the turn of the century, and today's modern GPGPU.







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BioShock Infinite Review

You haven't been to a place like this before. The fictional floating city where Infinite is set is all clockwork platforms and brass gears, its many sections populated with hucksters, strivers, lovers and schoolchildren. One minute, you're walking past a sheer drop, the next a park swings down into the open space.







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AMD Radeon HD 7790 Review

The latest member of the Southern Islands family, the new Radeon HD 7790 is designed to fill the gap between the Radeon HD 7770 and 7850. Set to precisely target the $150 price tag, the HD 7790 should be an affordable solution that provides good value to gamers on a budget.







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SimCity Performance, Benchmarked

A city with few sims will see graphics cards such as the GeForce Titan or GTX 680 render massive frame rates because they are not being capped by the CPU (yet). As with most simulation and strategy games, SimCity is CPU dependent and overclocking should result in a healthy boost if needed. SimCity is not a game for showing off high-end GPUs as the cheaper 660 Ti and 7870 alternatives can work just as well for the most part.







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StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Review

The game - not the interactive story, but the set of rules and conditions that form the basis of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm - has grown into a classic, an eternally replayable e-sport that you could seriously compare to chess or even football without making people snicker.







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Acer Iconia W510 Hybrid Tablet Review

Hybrids are the optimal home for Windows 8 as both aspects of the OS are in use and get to shine as they were designed to. That brings us to the Acer Iconia W510 hybrid tablet, which can be essentially converted into a full-fledged PC with its keyboard dock - no Windows RT here, folks.







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Tomb Raider Performance Test: Graphics & CPU

Tomb Raider on the PC supports DirectX 11, which brings access to advanced rendering technologies absent on current-gen consoles such as depth of field, HD ambient occlusion, hardware tessellation. Additionally, compared to the diluted console versions, the PC build offers better textures as well as AMD's TressFX real-time hair physics system.







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SimCity Review

This brave new multiplayer SimCity grants me the focus I need to once again lose myself in the minutiae of running a virtual town. Maxis' latest creation is easily the most compelling SimCity I've played since the 1989 original. It's also a disaster.







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Viber 3.0
Free calls, text and picture sharing with anyone, anywhere.




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Torch Browser 25.0.0.3256
Light up the web with Torch Browser. With Torch you can save media files, manage torrent files and share links. All with a click.




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TeamTalk 4.5
TeamTalk is a conferencing system which enables a group of people to collaborate and share information




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Zemana AntiLogger 1.6.2.218
Anti-virus software is Not Enough to Stop Hackers and Keyloggers.




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Files Terminator Free 2.5.0.10
Files Terminator Free is an easy to use application that allows users to permanently delete their files and wipe free disk space.




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VideoMach 5.9.12
VideoMach is a powerful multimedia converter useful for many everyday tasks.




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Jajuk 1.10.5
Jajuk is a Java music organizer for all platforms.




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Mozilla Firefox 24.0 Nightly
The absolute latest from Mozilla Firefox.




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phpMyAdmin 4.0.1
phpMyAdmin is a free software tool written in PHP, intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the World Wide Web.




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Path of Exile
Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. We're a small independent team of hardcore gamers based in New Zealand and have created Path of Exile as the game that we'd want to play ourselves.




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Start Menu Reviver 1.0.0.1460
The only start menu for Windows 8. Bring back and enhances the Start Menu. Launch desktop and metro apps. Truly touchscreen-friendly. Totally free.




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Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is the only massively-multiplayer online game with a Free-to-Play option that puts you at the center of your own story-driven Star Wars™ saga.




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ObjectDock 2.1
Organize your short-cuts and running tasks onto an extremely customizable dock that sits on your desktop.




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TERA
TERA takes the fight beyond whack-a-mole monotony with enhanced aiming, dodging, and tactical timing to create intense and rewarding combat.




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League of Legends
League of Legends (LoL) is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. It is a free-to-play game, supported by micro-transactions.




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SynWrite 5.4.350
SynWrite is a free source code editor and notepad replacement for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.




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BitDefender Free Edition 1.0.15
BitDefender Free Edition is your chance to use one of the world's most effective antivirus engines for free.




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JetClean 1.5.0
With a single click, JetClean gives you that fresh, new PC feeling again! Lightweight and easy to use, JetClean removes system junk files and improves your PC performance.




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GreenBrowser 6.4.0515
GreenBrowser is a multiple windows browser based on IE, with powerful features.




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Mozilla Firefox 22.0 Beta 1
The absolute latest from Mozilla Firefox.




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Bandizip 3.04
Bandizip is 100% free Archiver for home and office.




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Encoding Decoding Free 3.2.7
The program is completely free, easy, fast and powerful.




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Freemake Video Downloader 3.5.1.0
Download any video from thousands websites! From YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Veoh, Dailymotion and 10,000+ sites. Download MP3 from YouTube, convert any online video to AVI, MKV, MP3, iPhone, iPod, PSP, Android.




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The Cleaner Database Update May 15, 2013
Keep your computer and data safe from Trojans / Worms / Keyloggers / Spyware and all manner of malware.




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iMovie 9.0.9 for Mac OS X
iMovie makes it easy to turn your home videos into your all-time favorite films. YouÂ’ll laugh. YouÂ’ll cry. YouÂ’ll watch them over and over again. And youÂ’ll share them with everyone.




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AMD Mobility Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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AMD Mobility Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows XP 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows XP 64-bit



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows XP
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows XP



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Realtek 10/100M Fast Ethernet PCI Express Driver 7.053 for Windows 7
Driver Date: 3/22/2012 OS Support: Windows 7



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Realtek 10/100/100M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Driver 5.719 for Windows XP
Driver Date: 3/22/2012 OS Support: Windows 2000/XP



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Realtek Wireless LAN ICs IEEE 802.11b/g/n RTL8188SU Driver 1086.48
Driver Date: 4/19/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Realtek Wireless LAN ICs IEEE 802.11b/g/n RTL8192SU Driver 1086.48
Driver Date: 4/19/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Realtek Wireless LAN ICs IEEE 802.11b/g/n RTL8191SU Driver 1086.48
Driver Date: 4/19/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Cisco Linksys E1500 Firmware 1.0.04
Driver Date: 3/28/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows 7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows XP 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows XP 64-bit



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Nvidia GeForce Notebook Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows 7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows XP 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows XP



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Nvidia GeForce Notebook Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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Cisco Linksys E2500 Firmware 1.0.04
Driver Date: 4/9/2012 OS Support: Windows (all)



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Realtek PCIe FE GBE Family Controller Series Driver 6.250 for Windows Vista
Driver Date: 4/3/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista



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Realtek PCIe FE GBE Family Controller Series Driver 7.053 for Windows 7
Driver Date: 4/3/2012 OS Support: Windows 7



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Realtek PCIe FE GBE Family Controller Series Driver 5.794 for Windows 2000/XP
Driver Date: 4/3/2012 OS Support: Windows 2000/XP



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Realtek HD ALC 880 Audio CODECs R2.68 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/2/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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Realtek HD ALC 880 Audio CODECs R2.68 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/2/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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Realtek HD ALC 880 Audio CODECs R2.68 for Windows 2000/XP (32/64 bits)
Driver Date: 4/2/2012 OS Support: Windows 2000/XP



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