Richard Gaywood’s iPhone is now lying to him*, and he doesn’t appreciate it.

4G was originally defined in 2009 by standard body ITU-R as “peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbit/s for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users)” (quote from wikipedia). Then the carriers got hold of it and started redefining any old thing they had as “4G” because it sold better that way. The latest trick is that even [absolutely]-just-3G-with-bells-on standards like HSDPA are “4G” too.

And now in iOS 5.1, the iPhone is telling anyone who will listen it is 4G, too — never mind it is no faster today than it was yesterday.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that Apple stands firm against the worse excesses of the carriers. This is pure capitulation to AT&T’s marketing department.

Just for yucks, let’s look at how AppleInsider covers this story:

Rumors first arose last October that AT&T wanted Apple to add a “4G” indicator to the iPhone 4S status bar. That’s because the iPhone 4S is capable of 4G-like speeds, even though HSDPA is not a “true” fourth-generation network.

The change will allow AT&T to further differentiate itself from competitors Verizon and Sprint, which run CDMA networks and do not offer HSDPA connectivity. However, “true” 4G remains exclusive to long-term evolution devices, like the third-generation iPad unveiled by Apple on Wednesday.

A redesigned antenna that allows for faster HSDPA connections is one of the major features of the new iPhone 4S that debuted last October. However, at the company’s keynote presentation, Apple executives did not outright declare that the iPhone 4S is a 4G phone.

U.S. carriers AT&T and T-Mobile have advertised their own HSPA+ networks as having “4G” speeds, even though they aren't true fourth-generation technology. AT&T is currently rolling out a true LTE 4G network in the U.S., and is available about 75 million people, while Verizon's LTE network reaches over 200 million people.

AI says that although HSPA+ on AT&T (and T-Mobile) aren’t true 4G networks, the iPhone 4S is capable of 4G-like speeds. Though you need to wonder why the iPhone 4 is now saying it is 4G, too? But also, let’s look at the chart posted by Gaywood at his weblog, “Action at a Distance”.

Those two little lines at the end? Those are iPhone speeds. Can you even see them? They’re now saying that they are 4G, too.

What? Can’t see them, still? Well, let’s zoom in...

Even at double zoom, those two iPhone lines are barely visible. This is what AppleInsider is telling you are “4G like speeds”. Yeah, and when I jog, I approach train-like speeds.

Specifically, the iPhone 4S maxes out at 14.4 Mbits/sec, and the iPhone at 7.2. The “relaxed” 4G standard is 60 Mbits/sec, while that big line I cropped out — stationary user’s 4G is 1Gbit/sec.

UPDATE: Gaywood’s iPhone wouldn’t actually say this because he’s in the UK and has a British iPhone, as I have learned today. None of the other carriers have yet to convince Apple to lie-grade their phones, but the rubicon has been crossed.