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The iPhone 4 launched on Verizon in Feburary, but many customers are waiting to switch to the iPhone with the iPhone 5

Of Verizon customers planning to buy an iPhone in the future, many will skip the iPhone 4 and go straight for the yet-to-be-released iPhone 5.

According to a small survey by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, 74 percent of Verizon subscribers are holding out purchasing an iPhone until the iPhone 5 comes out.

“We believe that many Verizon customers made the decision to wait and purchase the iPhone 5 when it launches instead of buying the mid-cycle iPhone 4,” Munster said with regards to initial sales figures for the Verizon iPhone earlier this year.

The survey was conducted across 216 Minneapolis-based mobile phone users across multiple carriers.

Trends for the past year have shown that Android is up in popularity over the iPhone, despite the latter smartphone’s launch on Verizon. But perhaps as this survey indicates, a good deal of subscribers simply weren’t ready to jump on the iPhone bandwagon until the iPhone 5’s release.

Currently, rumors of the iPhone 5 are all customers have to go on. The phone is purported to feature a speedy A5 processor, an 8-megapixel camera, a flat metal back and curved glass front, and possibly NFC technology.

Most of the latest iPhone 5 rumors have pegged its launch sometime in September. But according to AllThingsD, we may not see the iPhone 5 until October.

Other results of the Piper Jaffray survey include a high iPhone-user retention rate (94 percent of current iPhone users expect to buy another Apple-branded handset in the future), and split feelings amongst Android users — 47 percent plan to stick with Google’s OS, while 42 percent plan to switch to iOS.

Obviously, 216 mobile phone users is a very small sampling, but if the pattern is consistent across Verizon customers, that could mean big news for Apple. “The iPhone’s market share could more than double throughout the next round of phone purchases,” Munster said.

As reported previously, close to 35 percent of consumers plan to purchase the next iPhone sight unseen, according to a recent poll. As far as Wired readers go, that figure was closer to 20% based on results from a Facebook poll.

What phone do you want to buy next? Sound off in the comments section below.

Until now, mobile app developers have followed a pretty predictable MO: develop for iOS first, Android second, and everyone else after that. Since last year, many of you code monkeys out there have been tapping into Nitobi’s PhoneGap, a project that makes it easier to churn out apps for almost every OS, all at once. It’s been picking up steam, with about 40,000 downloads per month, 600,000 in total, and a steady stream of donations. That all culminated this weekend with the release of PhoneGap 1.0, which lets devs use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to write and deploy apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, webOS, Bada, and Symbian. That’s a long list indeed, but we see one glaring omission: Windows Phone 7. Hit the source link to download it for free and check out the promo video below for an oh-so quick overview.

Update: Oops! Looks like WP7 is included! Our apologies, and feel free to celebrate accordingly.

Continue reading PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video)

PhoneGap 1.0 lets devs write apps for seven platforms (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Talk about swift justice. It’s been less than a week since we reported on Personal Audio’s second infringement suit against Apple, and an East Texas judge has already put an end to the litigation. In a statement regarding the company’s complaint that the iPad 2, iPhone 4, and latest generation iPods infringed on the same patents put forth in its initial suit, Judge Ron Clark said the $8 million already awarded to the plaintiff should do just fine. He went on to deny the company’s request for a second trial. It may not be the last we hear of Personal Audio, but it is a refreshing change of pace from the usual goings on in Eastern District courtrooms.

Judge shoots down Personal Audio’s second Apple infringement case originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jul 2011 03:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Softbank customers in Japan can simply get an NFC sticker to add some contact-less payments to their iPhone 4, but most folks don’t have it quite so easy just yet. There are some alternatives while you wait for Apple to hop on the NFC bandwagon, however, like this solution from Unplggd‘s Vivian Kim. It uses one of the smaller NFC-equipped credit cards now available from some banks, which is apparently just small enough to fit under the back cover of an iPhone 4 (a clear one, in this case, to show off your cleverness). And, yes, it apparently still works just fine under there — even if you add a case on top of it.

iPhone 4 gets upgraded for NFC payments the hard way originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I have often said that it is both a gift and a curse that we as tech bloggers live so far out on the bleeding edge of the industry. Especially right now. There are mind-blowingly great phones about to come to market, yet we’re already focused on what is coming next. There’s always something better […]