With the expected release Tuesday of the next iPhone, some owners of the current version of Apple Inc.’s hit phone won’t sit home and grumble. They’ll sell, then upgrade.

Smartphones and other tech gear that are rendered obsolete by the latest version, or just get a little old, certainly are far too valuable to stash in a drawer and forget about. In fact, with an iPhone, you might be able to sell it for nearly the price you paid. But you have to know how to play the “recommerce” game to get top dollar.

Recommerce isn’t just for iPhones but for many of today’s tech gadgets, from BlackBerry phones to Xbox gaming consoles to laptop and tablet computers. Some consumers are seeking cash, while others just want a “green” way to dispose of their electronics.

“The very worst thing you can do from an economic and an ecological perspective is stick it in your drawer and later throw it in your trash,” said Joe McKeown, vice president of marketing and communication for phone buyback site, ReCellular.com. “It’s the right thing to do for your pocketbook and the environment.”

Used iPhones are an extreme case because they are always in high demand.

Like the price of a stock, price quotes for used iPhones fluctuate on websites that buy gadgets from consumers. Prices vary more on product-launch days like Tuesday. The difference Tuesday between selling in the morning and evening can be real money.

“We anticipate this will be the biggest event in recommerce to date,” said Kristina Kennedy, spokeswoman for Gazelle.com, which buys used electronics. Shortly after Apple announced Tuesday’s news conference about the iPhone, Gazelle’s traffic spiked. There was a period where people were locking in a price to sell their old iPhones at the rate of one every 10 seconds on the site, Kennedy said.

Compared with the launch of iPhone 4, traffic at ReCellular.com in recent days is double, McKeown said.

A survey by mobile advertising network InMobi released last week showed that 41 percent of current mobile phone users in North America plan to buy an iPhone 5 — before there was even confirmation an iPhone 5 existed.

“People just want to have the latest and greatest,” Kennedy said. “When they’re on a plane and the person sits down next to them, they want them to notice they have the iPhone 5, not the iPhone 4. There’s sort of a badge of honor that comes for the hard-core Apple enthusiasts with having the newest one.”

Many buy-back sites resell used phones — on eBay, for example — although, ReCellular.com buys and sells used phones on its own site. Consumers can check those websites if they’re in the market to buy used iPhones.

If you want to sell using a gadget buyback website, resale prices on iPhones are typically high the morning of Apple’s announcement of a new model. So, lock in a price by mid-day, Kennedy suggests. “After that, we do expect the pricing to drop very quickly,” she said. On Gazelle and some other sites, you can lock in a price and ship the phone weeks later, giving you time to buy your new phone and transfer service to it.

Owners of iPhones might be shocked to know you can sell your phone and get back most of what you paid. That’s because U.S. wireless carriers usually sell phones for less than cost and make up for it with the price of the service plan. For example, many consumers paid $299 for their 32-gigabyte iPhone 4, which retails for at least twice that. One buyback site, Cellitused.com, on Monday was offering $232 for one in good condition, and $290 for one in like-new condition, according to price aggregator uSell.com.

Upgraders can use the money to defray the cost of a new iPhone or help pay early termination fees if they will be jumping to a new wireless carrier before their contract expires. Some gadget buyers pay cash, while some store-sponsored buying programs pay in store credit.

Rob Brandenburg, 39, of Chicago is planning to upgrade from his current iPhone 4, which he says seems sluggish and “quirky” lately. “Right now, I’m having a lot of speed issues,” he said. Instead of selling his iPhone 4, he’ll pass it to his wife and probably sell her previous-generation iPhone, the 3GS, he said.

He said he would probably sell the older iPhone to a friend or use an online marketplace, such as eBay or Craigslist — or maybe he’ll just ask around. “I’ve sold a couple of them just by word-of-mouth,” he said.

Here are three primary ways to sell your iPhone or other used tech gear.

– Sell to a gadget buyback website. Selling to one of these sites can be a low-hassle option, but you might not get top dollar. Gazelle.com, for example, concentrates on being simple and fast. After you accept its offer, it will send you a box with prepaid shipping. Or you can go to a FedEx store, and personnel there will package it for free. Usually payment is issued within a week of your device arriving, Gazelle says on its website.

USell.com is an aggregator, searching prices on three different buyback sites. And ReCellular.com is among the oldest sites for selling and buying used phones. It touts 20 years in business and recirculating some 50 million phones.

– Sell it yourself. You’re likely to get a higher price for your gadget if you find your own buyer. Often that means using word-of-mouth or such online tools as eBay or Craigslist. But it can be a hassle to create an advertisement, respond to potential buyers and package and ship the item yourself. EBay has an Instant Sale section where it offers fixed payouts via PayPal.

– Retailer buybacks. Some gadget upgraders might prefer to deal with a known retailer. Electronics retailer Best Buy will give cash or store credit for trade-ins. A 32-gigabyte iPhone 4 in good condition yields $181 in cash or $279 as a Best Buy gift card. Amazon.com on Monday was offering $274 for the same trade-in. Its payout comes in the form of an Amazon.com gift card.

A word of caution: before selling, be sure to erase all your private data on such devices as computers and phones. Many devices have an option in their settings to wipe all data and restore the gadget to factory defaults. Some used-gadget buyers also say they will securely erase your data.

[Thanks: http://www.csmonitor.com]

Quora for iPhone retains most of the functionality of its desktop web version. Users can browse their activity feed, view questions, follow questions, vote on answers, add answers and add questions. It also includes a notifications feed, search functionality and the ability to manage your profile and view others. Quora has also added a shuffle feature that pulls up a random question from anywhere on the site.

Quora co-founder Charlie Cheever told Mashable that the app was designed with the consumption experience in mind. People don’t want to write long answers on their iPhones, he said, but Quora has given users the ability to add them if, say, they’re on a long train ride.

The big new feature Quora is introducing in its iPhone app is a “nearby” tab that lets users find questions related to their location. For example, I’m able to use the app to see questions people have asked about Russian Hill, my neighborhood in San Francisco. This nearby content will grow exponentially as more people use the iPhone app to create questions about local institutions and neighborhoods.

The app is missing a key feature though: the ability to take a photo and turn it into a question. The iPhone is ideal for asking a question through a photo. Asking the community to identify a plant or animal via an iPhone photo makes a lot of sense. For its part, Quora says this feature is coming.

Co-founded by Cheever and former Facebook CTO Adam D’Angelo, Quora was a darling of the technology world in 2010 and early 2011, but eventually lost the spotlight. Since then, the company has been focused on improving its technology and diversifying its content. The company points to food, filmmaking and even law enforcement as recent areas of expansion, though Quora declined to reveal any stats about the site’s growth (one thing it did reveal, though: New York, not San Francisco, is its largest and most active city).

For now that’s fine, but eventually Quora will have to find a way to market its content to the public. The content has retained its high quality though — its greatest advantage against mainstays such as Yahoo Answer and Answers.com

What do you think of Quora’s iPhone app? Do you use Quora?

[Thanks: http://mashable.com]

Apple has sent out invitations to select members of the media for an event being hosted on its Cupertino campus on October 4 at 10:00 a.m. PT. The event, which leaked last week, is slated to focus on the iPhone as evidenced by a subtle tagline on the invitation that reads “Let’s talk iPhone.”

Apple is expected to announce iOS 5, and as many as two new iPhone handsets making the rounds as the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. In addition to the newly-minted iOS 5, Apple is also expected to take the wraps off its iCloud service which has been in testing with developers alongside iOS 5 for months.

Recent rumors suggest that Facebook may present its long-awaited iPad-native app and an overhauled iPhone app at the event, but the rumors iOS-level FB integration should be taken with a grain of salt.

What else can we deduce from the invite?

[Thanks: http://www.zdnet.com]

Now you can take Turntable.fm to go with its new iPhone app. It provides all the features you’ve come to know and love in the browser-based version — creating and joining listening rooms, virtual DJing, chatting and social media integration — in a pint-sized capacitive touchscreen form.

Turntable.fm is one of a number of music-streaming services to attract a following in recent years. Spotify, which has Android and iPhone apps, is one option. Rdio, which offers offline syncing, has iPhone and iPad apps. And Pandora remains a classic in the music-discovery arena.

The layout and user experience of the Turntable.fm iOS app is much like that of the Turntable.fm website.

After opening the app for the first time, you log in through Facebook (like with the web version) before arriving at the familiar main screen: A tidy list of rooms with the name, the song playing there, the number of people listening in and the number of DJs. You can search for a specific room or create your own.

Once you’ve entered a room like, say, “Coding Soundtrack,” you’ve got your avatar-filled virtual jam space with a “This song is … Lame or Awesome” meter at the bottom and up to five DJs seated across the top of the screen. Selecting an individual avatar in the room (to follow, or just check out their name) is all but impossible unless there’s only three or four people in there, a problem often shared on the browser version.

In the upper right, you can access the chat log and your queue or share what you’re listening to on Facebook or Twitter, or through e-mail. If you’re DJing from the iPhone, rather than a Mac, Windows or Chromebook laptop, your avatar is (appropriately) holding an iPhone.

If you exit the app while you’re still in a room, music will continue to play.

Generally, the app is slower than its web-based counterpart. It took me a few seconds to enter any room, and another three to five for the song to start playing. And of course, you’ll sacrifice streaming quality for portability by using your phone’s 3G connection. Occasionally, my music would cut out for a few seconds. That’s the price of admission with a streaming mobile app.

With Turntable.fm’s iPhone app, you and your friends can easily take turns playing DJ without breaking out a laptop, making it ideal when you’re out and about at a park, or at a coffee shop that’s playing less-than-stellar beats (just use your headphones, please!).

[Thanks: http://www.wired.com]

According to a source speaking to HardMac, Apple has internally announced that it has created a Web-based version of diagnostic tools that AppleCare technicians are already using. The tool allows a technician to send an e-mail (or presumably an SMS) with a specially crafted URL. When a user clicks the URL, it connects to Apple’s servers and collects various bits of data about the device’s state, the health of the battery, and the version of iOS running.

HardMac’s source did not say if the tool will be able to collect any logs, such as app crash logs or the baseband radio log. The site also noted that there so far isn’t any indication that jail breaking can be detected, though we note Apple certainly has methods to do so.

Of course, the remote troubleshooting step won’t be helpful for a device that simply does not function or has no network access. But if the device is functioning enough to run Mobile Safari, the tool could be a useful first step in getting assistance if an Apple Store or authorized service center isn’t conveniently located nearby.

[Thanks: http://arstechnica.com]

Released yesterday, the free Time to Call app is geared toward people who need to make quick calls around the world. The app lets iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners make voice over Internet Protocol calls of up to 15 minutes to any one of more than 190 different countries.

And instead of dealing with Vonage or another carrier for billing, users pay for their calls via their iTunes accounts. So the service is accessible to any Apple iOS device owner, including non-Vonage customers.

The cost? Calls to 100 countries run $1.99 or less, while calls to 90 additional countries are billed at anywhere from $2.99 to $9.99, all for up to 15 minutes. You can find out how much a specific call will cost by choosing the country you want to phone at Vonage’s Time to Call Web page.

Calls can be made over either Wi-Fi or 3G networks in the U.S. and Canada, while phoning a landline or mobile phone costs the same amount.

For a “limited time,” your first international call is free, and any unused minutes can be applied toward additional calls.

Time to Call is simple to set up and use. After initially choosing your home country, you then pick the country you wish to call. The app will tell you how much the call will cost. If the price meets your budget, click a button to pay for the call and then just dial the number. The app can tap into your existing contact list, keep a history of past calls, and display your billing balance.

“With the launch of Time to Call, Vonage has simplified the process of making affordable international calls for iPhone users around the globe,” Vonage CEO Marc Lefar said in a statement. “Not only does this service offer tremendous value for international callers dialing from their home countries, it also provides a great solution for international travelers who want to avoid the bill shock associated with international calls and roaming charges when they call back home.”

[Thanks: http://reviews.cnet.com]

As expected, the Float Reader app lets you read documents from your online Scribd account. Scribd has also partnered with 150 publishers like Tech Crunch, Engadget, AP and Fox Sports to reformat their content for the application. Publishers are organized into categories such as entertainment, technology, sports and politics.

The application has several options to make reading easy on your eyes including a night mode, battery saver mode, sunlight mode and more. Float Reader also lets you adjust the font size using the pinch to zoom gesture and navigate page to page by swiping. The app is a standard reader with some social features, but there are plans to expand the service beyond this early iteration.

Scribd hopes to use this app to launch a mobile reading platform it claims will be the Netflix for written content. The company wants to ink deals with premium content providers and offer this exclusive material to Float subscribers for a basic monthly fee. Advertisements will be used to monetize the app and content providers can share in this incoming revenue.

For now, you can check out Float Reader application yourself. It’s available for free from the App Store.

[Thanks: http://www.tuaw.com]

In this week’s Ask Maggie, I help one reader decide if he should wait for the next-generation iPhone or buy the iPhone 4 before Verizon Wireless gets rid of its unlimited data plan. I also explain to another reader when I think more Windows Phone smartphones will hit the market. And I offer some guidance on which cell phone provider to choose when traveling between rural areas.

Ask Maggie is a weekly advice column that answers readers’ wireless and broadband questions. If you’ve got a question, please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put “Ask Maggie” in the subject header.

iPhone 5 vs. unlimited data

Dear Maggie,
I’m going to get a new iPhone, but I’m not sure if I should wait for the iPhone 5, or get the iPhone 4 now on Verizon Wireless in order to get the unlimited data. My friends seem to unanimously agree that Verizon Wireless has better coverage/service. So I was thinking that if they are going to eliminate their all-you-can-eat data plan, now might be the time to jump on board. I currently have an iPhone 3GS with AT&T. Are the features on the unannounced iPhone 5 likely to make it much greater than the iPhone 4 to make it outweigh the unlimited data package?

Dear Joe,
Most people don’t use more than 2GB of data per month. So even though you may feel compelled to rush over to Verizon Wireless now for the unlimited data plan, most likely you’ll be fine without it. So I wouldn’t make any rash decisions just because you want to hold onto your unlimited data plan.

To answer your question regarding the iPhone 5, rumor has it that it will be announced in September. What we know so far is that the new version will look very similar to the iPhone 4. But inside there are some tweaks that will improve performance. For one, it’s supposed to have a faster processor, the A5, which is the same one used in the iPad 2, and a higher resolution camera. It will also get a new camera that will be an 8 megapixel camera instead of the 5 megapixel camera on the iPhone 4.

I doubt the iPhone 5 will support 4G LTE, since Apple rarely is on the cutting edge in terms of the components it uses in its products. The new 4G LTE phones are still having battery life issues. So I am sure that Apple will want to wait until the technology matures before putting it into the iPhone. Plus, the LTE services from either AT&T or Verizon Wireless aren’t widely available. Verizon Wireless says that it has 74 markets covered. But the LTE footprint won’t match its 3G footprint until 2013. Meanwhile AT&T hasn’t even started offering 4G LTE yet. It is supposed to be in 15 markets by the end of the year.

That said, AT&T is using HSPA+ in its network too, which is an upgrade to the current 3G technology. So it’s possible that that iPhone 5 might support HSAP+ in the GSM version, which could give it a speed boost.

Of course, all of this is speculation. We won’t know what features the next iPhone will have until it’s announced.

So here’s my advice, since you’re already an AT&T customer, and you’re likely already on the unlimited data plan, just wait for the next iPhone. It will be more advanced than the iPhone 4. We just don’t know how much more advanced. And at that point you can decide between AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Verizon does have a better reputation in terms of its network. And unless you’re a very heavy data user, you should be fine with the new 2GB cap.

I hope this helps.

Where are all the Windows Phones?

Dear Maggie,
Why are there so few Windows Phone 7 GSM phones out there? When do you expect to see a significant number come out? Will Mango include Skype???

Dear Shaneryland,
I expect more Windows Phone 7 devices to be on the market this fall with the release of the new Mango software. Microsoft has said these new phones will be ready for the holiday season. These phones will be from a number of handset makers.

Jo Harlow, a senior vice president at Nokia, was in the CNET office recently and said the first Nokia devices sporting the Microsoft Mango software will be out by the end of the year. She wouldn’t say how many devices would be available, but she said it would be a portfolio of devices for the world market. More phones will be released sometime next year. These phones are also expected for the GSM market as well as the CDMA market. Nokia has a big investor event in October in London, so I’m hoping we get to see some of these Windows Phone 7 devices then.

As for Skype, I don’t expect that Microsoft will have any meaningful integration with Skype in Mango. Greg Sullivan, Windows Phone senior product manager, told me when Mango was unveiled here in New York City a few weeks ago that further Skype integration would be added in subsequent versions of the software. Microsoft acquired Skype at the end of the development process for Mango. So look for cooler Skype integration with the next iteration of Windows Phone software.

Service help

Dear Maggie,
I currently have Sprint for phone service, and I can be a heavy data user at times on my phone and via mobile hotspot. I currently have the HTC Evo 4G, and I love the phone. However, here is the problem. I travel a lot back and forward from Florida to North Carolina driving. I want to switch services later this year, but I’m not sure to which company.

Dear Traveling Whitey ,
I have had a similar problem. My dad lives at the beach in Delaware. And when I had Sprint as my carrier, my phone wouldn’t work at all throughout the entire town, even though the coverage map said there should be a signal. The only two carriers that have strong signals there are AT&T and Verizon Wireless. So I had to switch carriers, just so I could make phone calls or check e-mail when I am visiting him.

So the first thing you need to do is ask people in the two areas where you travel which service they use. Also ask them if they are happy with the service. Because you are traveling through some rural areas, I suspect that AT&T and Verizon are likely the two best candidates. T-Mobile and Sprint generally don’t have great coverage in rural areas. Their bread-and-butter are the suburbs and cities.

If your choice is between AT&T and Verizon, keep in mind that Verizon has a reputation for having a more reliable network. Of course, this may vary depending on the region. So that’s why it’s best to ask people who live in those areas for their opinions.

Verizon may not always be the fastest, but you’re more likely to keep a call going and even get a data signal. By contrast, AT&T has struggled with reliability. And in cities, like New York, data speeds have been slow and calls have been dropped. Of course, the experience may be very different for people in South Carolina and Florida, so do a little homework before you make your decision.

Another thing to keep in mind is that LTE and HSPA+ won’t make much difference to you unless you buy a phone that supports either of those two technologies. Currently, the majority of phones sold by either carrier do not support these flavors of network technology. Also Verizon’s LTE network is not completely built out, so you even if you get an LTE phone you may not be able to take advantage of the fast speeds. AT&T’s HSPA+ network is built out further, but if you will be in rural areas, you’re likely to be on the older 3G network or even the 2.5G EDGE network.

As far as pricing is concerned, AT&T and Verizon offer comparable pricing. Although Verizon is priced slightly higher than AT&T when it comes to data. AT&T offers a $15 plan that includes 200MB of data downloads per month. And a $25 plan that offers 2GB of downloads per month. Verizon Wireless’s cheapest data plan for smartphones is $30 a month. And as of July 7, that service will no longer be unlimited. Instead, usage will be capped 2GB per month.

[Thanks: http://news.cnet.com]

“Survey data indicates Apple may sign up 150 million iCloud and up to 150 million iMessage users. Proprietary RBC survey data (1,500 respondents, June 7-14) shows 76 percent of iPhone users intend to use Apple’s iCloud service, unveiled at WWDC. This high response rate affirms the growing interest in storing, syncing and sharing music, photos, documents across multiple devices (e.g. Smartphones, Tablets, PCs, TVs, etc),” said Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Abramsky said Apple, based off the survey data, could sign up estimated 150 million iCloud users, moving into the scope of leading of online user bases (Facebook (700 million), Microsoft/Skype (700 million), Twitter (300 million), Yahoo! (300 million), and Google/Gmail (200 million)).

Abramsky said 30 percent of surveyed iPhone users are very/somewhat likely to spend $24.99 per year for iTunes Match to host their non-Apple music libraries in iCloud. (This equates to a nominal $1.5 billion per year revenue for Apple (1 percent of annual revenue) with nominal EPS impact (assumes iTunes Match gross margins are 10 percent, inline with iTunes content sales).

Abramsky said Apple may plan to launch additional services over time on iCloud. Examples may include audio and video streaming, photo and video sharing, hosted Time Machine backups, document management and storage and others. Apple is likely to build iCloud service into all iOS devices, possibly including even entry-level products like the iPod Nano and Shuffle.

Abramsky said 73 percent of iPhone users intend to use iMessage, equating to up to about 150 million iMessage users. iMessage thus has the potential to strengthen loyalty among existing iPhone users, as well as incent 60 millino-plus iPod Touch users to favour iPhone over other smartphones (e.g. Android) if they upgrade.

“As it stores user data, iCloud, along with iTunes is expected to enhance loyalty and stickiness of Apple’s customers, helping defend against threats from Android, helping grow a defensible install base of users who continually upgrade to next generation Macs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods,” said Abramsky.

The brokerage maintained its “outperform with above average risk” rating on shares of Apple, while reiterating its price target of $450.

Abramsky said impediments to his price target include: unknown market acceptance of new products, new product launch delays, stronger than expected competitive response to iPhone, slower than expected international expansion, greater than expected iPod cannibalization, slower than expected Macintosh market share gains, channel conflicts or execution, and key executives or staff departures.

“We see Apple’s valuation multiple as vulnerable should market sentiment continue to deteriorate and it could compress further on unexpected competitive developments, execution stumbles, unexpectedly slowing growth, declining margins, PC market concerns, or decline in overall market or technology market valuations,” said Abramsky.

Apple stock rose 1.68 percent to $320.62 on the NASDAQ Stock Market at 10:16 am EDT.

[Thanks: http://www.ibtimes.com]

Earlier this week, Apple showed off the latest version of its mobile operating system iOS 5, the next generation Mac operating system OS X Lion and its new cloud-based music, photo, video and data back-up service called iCloud.

All three received a great deal of attention as they were the latest advancements in Apple’s software and services.

OS X Lion has 250 new features but only 10 features were presented by Apple at WWDC 2011. Some of them were Multitouch Gestures (which till now was only available in iOS), Full Screen Apps (the apps can be enlarged to fit the screen), Mission Control (combination of Expose and Spaces), Auto Save (Lion will automatically be able to save frequently what you’re working on), Resume (like iPhone users, Mac users will now be able to instantly resume an application where he/she had quit), Versions (the Lion can save all versions of the file you’re working on) and AirDrop (Wi-Fi based peer-to-peer file moving utility).

iOS 5 is also a formidable new mobile operating system. Apple said iOS 5 comes with 1500 new APIs and 200 new features, but walked the audience through top 10 features including improved Notifications, News Stand (similar to iBooks but dedicated to magazines and newspapers), Twitter Integration (Apple has integrated Twitter UI with the camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and Contacts), Reminders (the new Reminders app, which even has geolocation capabilities, now makes it possible to maintain multiple list and save them with dates to alert you), PC Free Function (no need to hook up mobile Apple devices with PC to access iTunes as iOS updates are now possible over the air), Delta Updates (now download only the necessary update and not the entire app/software) and iMessage (iMessage, which comes with read and delivery receipts and real time typing indication, allows iOS users to send text and multimedia messages over Wi-Fi and 3G).

As for iCloud, it could very well be Apple’s shot at redemption especially after it pulled a bummer with MobileMe service.

Though cloud-based services are not new, Apple’s iCloud is probably the first cloud-based service that automatically stores content in cloud and wirelessly pushes them out to all Apple devices.

Unlike Google’s Music Beta digital locker and Amazon’s Cloud Drive, iCloud will be able to scan a user’s library and make mirror copies available instantly.

iCloud, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said, “is going to be pretty big” as everything is now automatic, seamless and effortless and it could mean the end of file storage system.

In iCloud, one can not only store contacts, calendars, mail and documents. One can also store music, photos, videos, apps, and e-books (iBooks) but iCloud can also be used to store APIs.

The App Store and iTunes are also now on iCloud, which means that any music, movies or apps purchased through iTunes or App Store can be pushed down to any Apple device.

The best thing, however, about iCloud is probably iMatch.

For just a flat $24.99 annual fee, iMatch will match the user’s ripped songs with 18 million+ songs in iTunes and upgrade them to higher quality 256kbps AAC DRM-free.

The remaining songs that could not be matched has to be uploaded manually. “First time we’ve seen this in the music industry,” Jobs said. “If you don’t think we’re serious about this, you’re wrong.”

However, despite all these, Apple has managed to disappoint millions of fans, especially those who were expecting the technology giant to present the much-awaited iPhone 5.

It has been nearly a year that Apple launched iPhone 4 and over the period, several high-end models of Android smartphones have reared their heads, threatening to topple iPhone from its lofty perch.

According to a recent ComScore report, the market share of Google’s Android surged to 36.4 percent even as Apple’s iPhone dropped down to second place with 26 percent market share. Apple was barely ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry (25.7 percent).

In terms of mobile phone sales in the U.S., Apple also lagged, ranking No.4 (8.3 percent) behind Google Android smartphone makers like Samsung (24.5 percent), LG (21 percent) and Motorola (15.6 percent).

A Nielsen survey has also revealed that Android smartphone users download more apps on average than iPhone users despite Apple’s App Store being more than twice bigger than Android Market Place.

Apple’s stubborn decision to say no to Adobe Flash, the “antennagate” issue and Foxconn sweatshop controversy have marred iPhone 4’s success even as emergence of high-end Android smartphones such as LG Optimus 2X (the first Android phone with 1GHz dual-core processor) and Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Sensation 4G threaten to erode iPhone’s popularity.

Other Android smartphones lined up for launch and expected to give iPhone a run for its money are HTC Evo 3D, the Motorola XPRT, the Motorola Titanium, Samsung Gravity Smart and Samsung Exhibit 4G.

iPhone 5, though not expected to feature radical hardware changes, will come with beefy specs such as 8 MP camera, A5 processor, a 4-inch display, 1080p output, curved glass screen, a SIM-less design, 3-4 internal antennas for both GSM and CDMA networks and 4G connectivity.

Had iPhone 5 been released this month, it would have stood a chance, perhaps even stolen a march over Android rivals, thanks to iOS 5 and iCloud.

However, by not presenting iPhone 5 at the WWDC 2011, Apple could have just shot itself on the leg as by the time iPhone 5 is unveiled, Android smartphones will be boasting of similar features if not superior ones.

Apple is making a big gamble and Steve Jobs knows it. But Jobs is a man who hates to lose and so iPhone 5 could, after all, have a few tricks up its sleeve that the world does not know about.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White feel that Apple would probably put off iPhone 5 launch till September, when the company begins its new financial year, rather than launch it within months of the launch of the white iPhone 4, which is doing extremely well.

The September launch will also help Apple tide over problems related to supply delay, the analyst said.

Agrees Susquehanna Financial analyst Chris Caso. “Our checks at multiple levels of the supply chain point to a one-to-two-month delay in the production start for the next-generation iPhone vs. our earlier view of a July production start,” Caso wrote in a note to clients.

[Thanks: http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/]