A quarter of survey respondents think 4G is the fourth generation of the iPhone

There is so much confusion surrounding the term 4G, that 27% of 893 Americans surveyed by Nielsen think that this is the iPhone 4. We don't blame them, as the term has been squeezed, twisted and hung out to dry so often, that it has become somewhat of a catchphrase, rather than something with a set meaning.

Before the International Communications Union (ITU) bent under the carriers' pressure, and dubbed everybody's network technology 4G, it actually meant at least 1GBps download speeds when stationary, and 100Mbits when moving.

T-Mobile's HSPA+ network, Verizon's LTE and Sprint's WiMAX are far from those speeds, yet that didn't prevent them from milking the 4G slogan last quarter for what it's worth. The survey sample is pretty small, but still we are quite happy to see that more than a half (54%) of respondents know precisely what 4G should stand for.

via IntoMobile