Most of us are familiar with the term 3G, which refers to the third generation of wireless technology standards used in the last three models of the iPhone (not to mention every other smartphone produced in recent years). But did you know that a lot of what carriers are currently touting as “4G” is actually just a souped-up version of 3G?

Wireless carriers like to toss around technology-laden acronyms such as 3G, EV-DO, HSPA, 4G and LTE as if we all have a degree in rocket science. The reality is, the average person doesn’t have the slightest clue what most of those mean -- so we’ll attempt to cut through the mystery of what some of them mean, beginning with the former, LTE.

Apple greeted the final week of March with an announcement that the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take over Moscone West in San Francisco from June 6-10, with developer tickets selling out the same day at $1,599 each. At the same time, pundits began spreading the doom and gloom that there would be no June iPhone refresh this year… but is it fact or fiction?

On Tuesday, Verizon Wireless announced that they had finally wrestled iPhone 4 exclusivity from AT&T’s shackles after four years. Unfortunately, aside from swapping a GSM antenna for a CDMA model, the 3G-enabled handset is essentially the same -- despite Verizon’s big push for 4G LTE a week earlier at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.