ars technica has a good preview of the Thunderbolt devices on display at the 2012 International CES, which is currently underway in Las Vegas.

Our head tech James recently implemented Promise’s Pegasus RAID with Thunderbolt at one client site, and reported that the transfer speeds EXCEEDED his expectations. With the Promise Pegasus R6 Thunderbolt RAID + Mac mini server, reads over AFP / the network were clocking in at 100MB/s (or, 800Mbps, which would be the theoretical FireWire max).  Some site examples: 8GB upload over the network in under 2 minutes (i.e., much faster than a direct FireWire connection), and a 100GB download in around 10 minutes.

Improvements / updates include:

• Safari Performance – the new Nitro JavaScript engine powering Safari runs JavaScript up to twice as fast as in iOS 4.2.
• Personal Hotspot for iPhone 4 – when you enable Personal Hotspot on your iPhone 4, you are now able to share your cellular data connection with your Mac, PC, iPad, or other Wi-Fi-capable device.
• iPad Side Switch- you can now customize the switch on the side of your iPad to lock the screen rotation or mute the volume.
• AirPlay Enhancements – in addition to music, movies, and photos, AirPlay now streams video from your Photos app.
• iTunes home sharing – play anything (music, movies, podcast…) from your iTunes library from anywhere in your house on your iPhone, iPad or iPod over your shared Wi-Fi network.

The new iPhone 4 has several amazing new features:

• Video calling.  Apple calls it “FaceTime” and it works iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi. The iPhone 4 has 2 cameras — one on the front that focuses on you, and one on the back that focuses on everything else.
• HD Video Recording and Editing. You no longer need to carry your Flip HD and a phone.  With the iMovie app, you can edit your footage and make movies on your iPhone 4.
• 5-Megapixel Camera with LED Flash. The camera on the back of the iPhone 4 is 5-megapixel, and there’s also a built-in LED flash that automatically fires when needed. The VGA-quality front facing camera is great for self-portraits.
• Multitasking. You can run third-party apps and switch back and forth between them without running down your battery or slowing the performance of the apps.

There are loads more features to the iPhone 4, including the beautiful 960-by-640 resolution Retina display, which looks incredibly sharp and vibrant. You can check out all the new tech specs for the iPhone 4 here.

Current iPhone owners can check out the status of your iPhone 4 upgrade eligibility by dialing *639# on your iPhone. AT&T will text you back to let you know if you are eligible for the full upgrade price ($199 for the 16GB and $299 for the 32GB) or on what date you’ll be eligible in the future.

For those of you who are ready to buy an iPhone for the first time, you can reserve your iPhone 4 starting June 15. More details here.

• Multitasking (only available with iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch 32GB and 64GB models from late 2009)
• Folders – organize your apps
• iBooks – read books on your iPhone
• Enhanced Mail – unified inbox, switch between inboxes more quickly, organize messages by threads, and the ability to open attachments in third-party apps

Other exciting new features and improvements include:

• Spell check
• Bluetooth keyboard support
• User-defined wallpaper
• Tap to focus when recording video and a 5x digital zoom for the camera
• Playlist creation and nested playlists
• Game Center — an official social gaming network for the iPhone

You can catch the official Apple keynote on the new iPhone OS 4 here.

Mixology: Drink Recipes – a good collection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to get you through the holiday season

Slacker Holiday Radio – Unlimited free holiday tunes from 11 different holiday radio stations.  Everything from classic holiday songs to contemporary anti-holiday tunes can be found here.

Elf Command – Rush hour in Santa’s workshop!  Help the robot elves sort the presents to take to good boys and girls.  Fun for kids (some adults might like it too).

Do Not Press The Red Button – Christmas Edition! – Just get it.  It will make you laugh at least once.  We promise.

Dr. Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition – OK.  So this one isn’t free, but it’s a lot of fun.  You can take a photo of yourself and then put your face on the Grinch’s body and send a “Grinchmas Card.”  You don’t have to be a Grinch if you don’t want, though.  You can also choose from other Dr. Seuss characters like Cindy-Lou Who and the Grinch’s dog, Max.

Apple’s website provides a number of useful tips on how to conserve the power of your iPhone’s battery.  Most of it comes down to disabling certain services and features on your iPhone and only using them when necessary:

• Turn off location services and use only when needed.
• Turn off push notifications.
• Fetch new data manually.
• Turn off push mail and use only when needed.
• Auto-check fewer email accounts.
• Minimize use of third-party applications.
• Turn off Wi-Fi and use only when needed.
• Turn off Bluetooth unless you’re using a Bluetooth headset or car kit.
• Use Airplane Mode in low- or no-coverage areas.
• Set Brightness to Auto Brightness.
• Turn off EQ in the settings for iPod.

Also keeping your iPhone locked while not in use will help conserve the life of the battery.  Set the auto-lock to 1 minute by going to Settings > General > Auto-Lock and selecting 1 Minute.

1.  Do not put your MacBook or MacBook Pro directly on your lap.  The correct nomenclature these days is “notebook computer” instead of “laptop” for that very reason.  Putting your MacBook or MacBook Pro on your lap prevents air from circulating underneath it.

2.  Do not put your MacBook or MacBook Pro on a pillow, comforter, carpet or any other soft surface.  Soft material can block the airflow vents.  Instead, put your MacBook or MacBook Pro on a flat, hard surface like a table or desk, so that air can pass through it.  Alternatively, you can get a “lap desk,” which, as Macworld will tell you, doesn’t have to be anything super fancy or expensive.

3.  If possible, put your MacBook or MacBook Pro on a CoolPad, which increases the air space under your machine by lifting it up on adjustable risers, and also allows you to shift the height of of your screen so that it is positioned at a more comfortable height.

4.  Monitor your MacBook or MacBook Pro’s temperatures with iStat pro.  This widget is free to download and lets you keep an eye on all aspects of your machine.

*Big thanks to our superstar tech James for his input on this post.