OK, so you got a brand new, shiny iMac from Apple, and want to know what the beast is capable of? Well, I suggest that you get some 3D modelling software or CAD-CAM application, if you really want to see smoke coming out of it, but if you're not into such things, I think going with some iMac Internet speed test ain't that bad, either!

If you're looking for soem iMac Internet speed test, than the answer to that one is that no such thing exists! With most connection speed tests being browser-based, it becomes obvious that the same test should work properly on the MacBook Air, any PC having the required software components(Java and Flash, in most cases), iMac, or even mobile phone.

To help you in your quest for finding the real Internet speed of your iMac, I tried a few new tests that I found, as well as older ones that always gave me good(and realistic!) results. Now, I will share my experience with you...and you can be sure that the result pictured above, over 26Mb/s download is real!

SpeedTest is one of the older web-based connection speed tests I ever used, and it recently got some welcomed updates, mainly to the layout, but I am sure there's also something new behind the fence...

To take the test, simply select a remote server, and wait for the results to show up. This is available for any Internet speed test you may perform - be sure to close any uploads and downloads before starting them!

The Internet Connection Speedometer from McAfee is another speed test worthy of your attention, despite the fact it only downloads 600KB of data to test your speed, and it doesn't test your upload bandwidth at all. Even more, you can't select the location to use for downloading data, but it's a quick test that only requires a click to start and show you the results.

Getting back to more serious tests, we have Speakeasy's Speed Test, a test that allows you to choose the location to connect to. Unfortunately, only a few US-based servers are available, but if you want to check some Paraguay server, for example, there's the first test I mentioned in this article, the "mother of all tests," according to more than just a few sources.

This test shows download and upload speed, and results are pretty accurate(I got about 6000kbps down and 1024kbps up, roughly the same results I got with the first test, when using a server from about the same area).

These being said, you have your answer - if you want to find the ultimate iMac Internet speed test, just try one of the sites I mentioned earlier, or start downloading some large files and see how fast they arrive. There's no computer science involved here, just logics, so most people should be able to easily accomplish this task!

Just one more thing - every time you seem to get stuck, remember to use Google! ;)

When the first Beta release of the iPhone 3.0 software came up, most consumers who read the news were pretty happy with the new features announced, especially the long-awaited copy-paste capability. In the meantime, developers who messed around with this piece of code ended up with the conculsion that iPhone 3.0 Beta is extremely unstable, and since this wasn't the only problem, a new version came up to fix some of the issues noticed in the first release.

Less than a day ago, Apple pushed forward the iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 2 to developers, and while this may not sound like such a big event, major changes happened. Obviously, we can't tell anything about reliability yet, and this is a Beta piece of software, after all, so reliability is not the main idea, as well as developers have other thingies to play with now, like push notifications and in-app purchasing!

OK, so push notifications and in-app purchasing are now both up and running, but this is not all. The iPhone 3.0 Beta 2 software also comes with MMS and tethering support, while Apple asks developers not to use them. It's just like those times when our moms made some awesome cake, left it on the table, and told us not to touch it...pretty frustrating, if you ask me.

Developers can easily grab it from the right section on Apple.com, and that's what they should do. For the rest of us...well, we should sit back and wait to see what happens until the iPhone 3.0 becomes officially available for all mortals...

I don't know if you're ready for the new iPhones, but since the 3.0 software will bring a lot of things that should have been there since first release on the market, like the copy/paste feature, I am sure they'll be a hit. Why "new iPhones" and not "new iPhone," that's pretty obvious - two distinct models are getting near to the production phase!

According to Lazard Capital Markets semiconductors analyst Daniel Amir, "Our checks confirm that two versions of iPhones will be introduced this year," but he doesn't stop there. He also claims that "Production of the new phones should start at the beginning of April and will ramp in May," and this doesn't sound like some April Fool's joke to me.

While having two completely different versions on the same market doesn't sound like an Apple thing, different versions for different markets makes a bit of sense. In the end, it all comes down to pricing, so Daniel said "We believe it is possible that the two phones will be aimed at different regions. The high-end version is expected in North America and Europe, and the low-end version may be for the BRIC countries [Brazil, Russia, India, and China] or China only."

When talking about features, it seems the high-end version will come with 32GB capacity, video capability, and a better camera, while the cheap iPhone will have no video function, less storage space, and possibly no Wi-Fi.

Now, I see obvious the decision to come up with a cheaper iPhone on the Chinese market, but what will they do when various local companies will come up with smartphones having the features of the high-end iPhone for half the price of the low-end one?