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In fact, as you can see in the graphic above, when consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo conducted a "Gadgetology" study of the state of 4G in the United States, 34% of iPhone owners thought they already owned a 4G smartphone. Of course, there is no such thing. Yet.

Okay all you Android and BlackBerry users, before you get too smug, notice that owners of your phone didn't do much better, with 29% and 24% mistakenly thinking they already owned a 4G phone, too. Well, at least it's possible to possess a 4G Android or 4G BlackBerry smartphone.

Retrievo's conclusion? Adoption of 4G is not going to happen quickly. Take a look at the gallery for even more surprising facts about the reluctance of consumers to jump to the next level of faster smartphone connectivity.

Then read the full study on Retrievo.com, conducted in June, 2011 with a sample size of more than 1000 online users in the U.S., which Retrevo says was "distributed across gender, age, income and location."

Are smartphone makers and service providers deliberately trying to confuse the 4G issue? Let us know in the comments.

Retrevo Gadgetology Study

Graphics courtesy Retrevo