A few weeks ago, we shared with you the fact that market research company ComScore did the math to reveal that as awesome as the iPhone is, the device's marketshare was dwarfed when compared against the figures currently being enjoyed by Android-powered handsets. The report was a perfect example of what most folks who chase Apple news around all day already knew: While Apple has been selling all the iPhones they can make, crippled by an exclusivity deal with AT&T and the fact that unlike Google's promiscuous flavor of the month Android OS, iOS is locked to Apple-produced hardware, making for a sales situation that put Google at the top of the heap. As much as we'd like to say that it wasn't the case, it appears that the number-crunchers are back to rub the noses of the Apple-faithful in the mess once again. This time around, The Nielsen Company is swearing up and down that according to their research, Android is the most popular operating system among those who purchased smartphones in the United States in the past six months.

Hey, we're not happy about it either.

Nielsen obtained their numbers over an eight-month period--between January 2010 and this past August--that included the consumer feeding-frenzy surrounding the launch of the iPhone 4 handset. Unfortunately, even with Cupertino's latest smartphone hotness playing the field, the popularity of Apple's iOS still came in second when stacked up against Android. Bear in mind, these numbers are in relation to the popularity of an operating system among smartphone owners, not the popularity of a given handset make or model. Who wins that contest, you ask? Unsurprising to technology watchers, the Canadian-made Research In Motion's Blackberry is still king. Having been on the market longer than either the iPhone or any Android handset, and firmly entrenched in the business world, the ubiquitous smartphone is still on top with a 31% share of the market. Nielsen noted that while Blackberry held the top position, the sun was setting on RIM's dominance, with Apple breathing down the company's neck with a 28% marketshare.

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