Looks like all those rumors and conspiracy theories regarding a Wal-Mart download store actually counted for something this time around.

ENGADGET: Wal-Mart joins the digital movie download fray

As you can see, our download rates were a good deal less consistent, although those results in the 20-something range weren't exactly flukes, either: we were on a hot streak of download rates above 25 Mbps before finally coming back down to earth.

ENGADGET: HTC One for AT&T and Sprint: what's different? Mobile

Apple representatives confirmed to Engadget that enabling AWS is done at the hardware level and is not something that can be attained via a software patch or download.

FORBES: T-Mobile's iPhone 5 is AT&T's iPhone 5, But It's Not

"If you think about a dial-up connection to the Internet and I was to get a very big file -- a huge file -- something that normally would take me on a dial-up connection 10 hours to download, I would download using this at one second, " explains Terabeam CEO Dan Hesse.

CNN: Terabeam aims to solve 'last mile' data jam

The maker community has helped on that front, as well, with MakerBot's Thingiverse serving as an unparalleled resource for 3D images, meaning that, once your printer's all set up and calibrated, you can download and print to your hearts delight -- but what if, say, you want to print up something that some kindly soul hasn't designed for you?

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