In its effort to remain competitive with industry leaders AT&T and Verizon, Sprint announced last week that it has decided to chuck out its Premier Program. The carrier allows its loyal users to upgrade their phones every year, and in order to keep offering such a benefit, Sprint has to tighten its belt, choosing the Premier Program as the casualty.

“In order to continue offering customers one of the best values of affordable unlimited data plans in the industry today, cutting-edge devices at great prices and our ongoing investment in providing great customer service, we had to make the difficult decision that it’s necessary to bring the Sprint Premier Program to a close at this time,” Sprint marketing director Melinda Parks said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time that Sprint has reached a severe decision. Earlier this year, the company added 10% surcharge for a good portion of its smartphones.  The upcoming availability of the iPhone in Sprint stores also means that the carrier must prepare for the surge in interest over this reigning smartphone.

Meanwhile, most of us have been patiently waiting for Apple itself to release an official announcement of the next iPhone. Some call it the iPhone 5, some the iPhone 4S. But no matter its name, others just can’t help but speculate.  Some conjectures seem sensible enough, while others are baseless; some are believable and some are just downright funny. Those who call the upcoming iPhone by the moniker iPhone 5 believe that there’s some major improvements going on with the device, while those in the iPhone 4S camp contend that the changes aren’t that significant after all.  Regardless of which side you’re on, nothing’s been confirmed. The only true way to know what the next iPhone is like is to wait for an official announcement.

Among the notable next-gen iPhone coverage here at SiliconAngle include the device’s availability at Sprint, and its ongoing fight against Android.  It was even said that the iPhone 5’s release this October will debut under Sprint, as iPhone 4 drops its price.  Sprint will hopefully keep its unlimited data plan, even for the iPhone, as a trump card against AT&T and Verizon.  And possibly coinciding with the launch of the new iPhone is the roll-out of iCloud and iOS5.  Moreover, the new device was alleged to support multiple networks such as CMDA and GSM, consequently making it a non-LTE device.

In case this rumor mill has your head spinning, here’s an infographic that’s followed everything, from the beginning of the iPhone 5 (4s) speculation to the present.