Contrary to recent reports, Apple is not developing a smaller iPhone. That’s the word tonight.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]Apple engineers are too busy finishing up the successor to the iPhone 4 to be working on a smaller so-called iPhone nano, according to The New York Times.

Citing confidential sources that have been “briefed on Apple’s plans,” the report suggests Apple will not be releasing a smaller iPhone any time soon. The smaller iPhone is not in development “in part because a smaller device would not necessarily be much cheaper to manufacture and because it would be more difficult to operate.”

Recent reports suggest that one iPhone version is smaller and cheaper than today’s iPhone, while another sports the ability to use the iPhone on multiple wireless networks around the globe.