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The latest numbers are in. ChangeWave Research has discovered that a whopping 34 percent of smartphone buyers would have purchased an iPhone if their carrier offered the Apple product. Instead, these consumers bought Samsung, HTC, RIM and Motorola devices to avoid switching their phone numbers to the AT&T network. Bad news for Motorola, whose users were almost evenly divided between keeping their smartphone or getting an iPhone instead.

Samsung and HTC led the pack with 50 percent or more users stating they would stick with their devices. Only 28 percent of Samsung respondents claimed they would have purchased an iPhone instead, with 32 percent of HTC users echoing similar sentiments. Non-AT&T customers definitely have some pent-up demand for the iPhone and many would have made different purchasing decisions if their carriers offered the device.

What if you could just plug your iPhone directly into a router with a USB cable and share the 3G data connection with every Wi-Fi device within 200 feet? Now you can, with Nexaira's Business Class 2 tethering-ready router. The router is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

Of course, if your iPhone is not jailbroken, you'll need to enable official tethering with your cellular carrier. AT&T offers iPhone owners tethering for $20 per month. With tethering, simply plug in the Nexaira BC2 router, connect the iPhone via the rear USB port and you're all set. Anywhere with power and a 3G signal becomes a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Smartphone and electronics warranty provider SquareTrade recently shared its smartphone data in a report comparing the iPhone 4 to other mobile devices. Included in the study were four months of data on the iPhone 4, eight months of data on Motorola and HTC Android devices, and one year of RIM BlackBerry data. The iPhone 4 led the group in reliability, with only 2.1 percent projected to have a non-accident malfunction in the first year of ownership.

Motorola is hot on the iPhone's heels, with only a 2.3 percent non-accident malfunction rate. HTC took third place in the reliability contest, while BlackBerry devices had the highest rate of spontaneous problems at 6.3 percent. Remarkably, 77 percent of smartphone failures from devices made by these four companies are due to accidental damage. When it comes to accidents, the numbers paint a different picture.

Evidence is mounting that Apple plans to release iOS 4.2 to anxious iPhone and iPad owners at 10 AM PST on Friday, November 12. iTunes 10.1, which hasn't been released yet, will be required to install the iOS 4.2 firmware. All indications are that Apple will launch iTunes 10.1 and Mac OS X 10.6.5 as early as Wednesday to prepare for the iOS 4.2 public release. The golden master of iOS 4.2 has already been seeded to developers and is not expected to change in the public version.

German blog iFun found evidence (above) that Apple plans to push carrier updates to wireless service providers on November 12. This date matches with inside infomation from an anonymous AT&T employee revealed by MacStories. The source also stated that Apple was delayed in its release of iOS 4.2 due to a bug discovered by AT&T testers. iOS 4.2 was originally slated for release on November 2, however an error in the display of Japanese characters required a fix from Apple.

iPhone 3G users were disappointed when Apple's iOS 4.0 made their devices all but unusable due to sluggish performance and short battery life. The iOS 4.1 update was a step in the right direction, with iPhone 3G owners reporting that Apple had made significant improvements. With the release of iOS 4.2 coming any day now, many are wondering if upgrading the firmware on their devices will speed things up even further or lead to more problems.

Apple has released the golden master of iOS 4.2, which is the last version that goes to developers before public release via iTunes. The iPhone Blog has thoroughly tested iOS 4.2 on the iPhone 3G and they have revealed that iOS 4.2 runs pretty smoothly in a video demonstration.