From highly anticipated, the iPhone 5 is turning out as old and out of style, i.e. if you believe Martin Fichter, acting president of HTC America. He says that iPhones are not that cool anymore as his daughters college classmates are now touting Android phones from Samsung Electronics and HTC.

Since Steve Jobs opted to talk about clouds and some platforms -- instead of a new smartphone -- in a conference in June, anticipation for the iPhone 5 has grown. But as the delay becomes longer, the waiting is getting absurd and hype could decline, as quickly as leaves fall this autumn.

And what if it's a case of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot? Microsoft has a new line up of Windows 7 phones and is already prepping up for Windows 8-powered smartphones. More powerful Android phones like the Motorola Droid Bionic (4G LTE, 4.3-inch screen) are now out in the market. We just can't wait 500 Days of Summer for someone when that someone is not the right one.

Yes, the specs leaks are already there, the Oct. 7 release date rumors, carriers readying a surge in demand for new contracts, signal boosters being installed in Apple Stores, a prototype lost in San Francisco, but where is the real iPhone 5?

Stewart Wolpin says in an article at DVICE says that indications are, iPhone 5 will actually be more an iPhone 4S, a minor upgrade in screen size, antenna and design, with few significant improvements.

"Which means the next iteration of the iPhone, once the technological master of the smart phone universe, is likely to be nowhere near the top of the today's most innovative phones," Wolpin says. He still expects though the iPhone 5 will have huge sales, perhaps higher than previous generation iPhones.

But how will Apple have huge sales if it couldn't place enough iPhone 5 in shelves? Seth Weintraub at 9 to 5 Mac reports, "It appears that the tear-drop shaped iPhone 5 with larger screen and thinner, rounder body is seeing continued design and production delays, at least on one assembly line (Apple has multiple production sources - Pegatron, Foxconn, etc). We therefore think that iPhone 5 will be delayed slightly at the very least and may see shortages all the way into 2012."

But production is apparently without problems for a cheap iteration of the iPhone 4. 9 to 5 Mac also reports that an iPhone 4 look alike -- the iPhone 4S -- is being manufactured in large quantities right now. The iPhone 4S will be priced aggressively and will be sold a pre-paid option.

The iPhone 4S against Samsung's Galaxy S2 and Droid Bionic? Apple would remain relevant if and when it shows everyone, not the 4S, but a new teardrop-shaped, larger screened, and advanced point-and-shoot camera iPhone 5.

Apple's New CEO Tim Cook should get rid of iPhone 5's production delays (and finally release the iPhone this October), and move on with iPad 3, which is already in the pipeline for a release early next year. He needs to blaze his own trail and look farther... an Apple console perhaps? Otherwise, claims of that HTC exec. that Apple is no longer cool could prove true.

For an interesting article on Google and Android, READ Google and Android PCs, Not A Question of "If" but "When"

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