You know what I'm talking about, right? Every few weeks, comes out with striking new details about how Android, iOS, and the other smartphone platforms are stacking up. Only every time, :

Android makes some meaty market share gains. Apple drops a bit, or maybe holds steady. The rest of the -- RIM, Microsoft, whozit and whatzit -- hang on for dear life.

That trend's been repeating reliably for a good couple of years now. So when a study with some new type of insight crosses my desk here at JR Raphael World Headquarters, you'd better believe I sit up and take notice.

Today is one of those enchanting occasions. A from -- the same guys who handle ratings for TV and practically everything else on the planet -- finds an interesting shift not just in smartphone market share but also in smartphone desirability. It's something the Nielsen crew has been measuring for some time now, but this marks a rare instance where we see a noteworthy change.

The change, in a nutshell, is that Android has now surpassed iOS in terms of consumer desirability. Or, in other words, more smartphone buyers are lusting after an Android than eyeing an iPhone.