Android has leapfrogged Apple's iOS mobile operating system to become the most widely used smartphone operating system world-wide.
For the most part, they pointed to the iPad regardless of the smartphone operating system they currently used.
Its market share in the smartphone operating system market has dropped from around 9% in 2009 to 4% in 2010.
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"Our competitors have taken a smartphone operating system, and they're trying to upgrade it into a tablet operating system, " Lazaridis said.
Ubuntu has announced its entrant into the smartphone operating system market.
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Next month will see Microsoft show the world Windows Phone 8 and the smartphone operating system they hope will confirm them as the third platform.
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The Chinese have let it be known that Google, with Android is far too powerful, and that they want a smartphone operating system of their own.
Certainly Android has established itself as the largest smartphone operating system, accounting for, by the third quarter of this year, 75% of shipment volumes of smartphones.
BlackBerry just released its long-awaited new smartphone operating system and two new handsets in January, and Microsoft debuted its Windows Phone 8 update at the end of 2012.
How does anyone pick one smartphone operating system over another?
One way to accomplish this goal is to work with Alibaba, the Chinese search, social networking, and eCommerce company, which has its own smartphone operating system, Aliyun.
The OS is scheduled to debut in tablet form by the end of the year, though RoMOS' project manager says it can serve as a smartphone operating system, too.
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He said that the Nokia Lumia 822, which runs Microsoft's smartphone operating system, garnered 17% of sales at his stores the weekend after Christmas, thanks in part to a price cut.
Motorola has arguably benefited the most from its use of Google's Android smartphone operating system, turning its ailing business around thanks largely to the strength of Verizon Wireless's marketing muscle and the Droid franchise.
"Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number 2 position in 2010, " said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.
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According to IDC, BlackBerry 10 is set to battle it out with Windows Phone 8 for the No. 3 smartphone operating system worldwide in 2013, behind Android and Apple's iOS. While its grip has slipped in North America, BlackBerry has maintained a strong presence in such far-flung places as Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Mexico and some South American countries.
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Research in Motion will make a giant leap towards relevance on Wednesday when it unveils a new BlackBerry 10 smartphone and operating system.
Despite a positive start, BlackBerry and Nokia ecosystemswill indeed need some more time to grow and drive further competition and innovation within the smartphone and operating system marketplace.
When Palm announced today that its new smartphone would run an operating system from Microsoft, it was the equivalent of Coca-Cola agreeing to fill its bottles with Pepsi.
That takes time as well (but not as much time as creating a brand new operating system and smartphone ecosystem would take).
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The line includes tablets and laptops, but with a focus on mobile, the event could include the launch of a new smartphone running Microsoft's operating system.
London, UK, 2 January, 2013: Canonical today announced a distinctive smartphone interface for its popular operating system, Ubuntu, using all four edges of the screen for a more immersive experience.
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The Z10 is, of course, the first smartphone running the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.
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Google is in the process of completing its acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings , which will push it even more into the smartphone sector, where its Android operating system has been successful, and will put Google in even closer, more direct competition with Apple .
According to research firm IDC, the iPhone and its iOS operating system make up 16.9% of the worldwide smartphone market, coming in behind the cluster of phones running the Android operating system, which account for 68.1% of the world's smartphones.
Because Samsung customizes its flagship smartphone based on Google's Android operating system, some of Samsung's features overlap with those made by Google.
Nokia has been turning around slowly after its gutsy decision to abandon its in-house smartphone platform and support Microsoft Office Phone operating system.
Developers have contacted The Next Web to share references to a new iPhone identifier and the next big operating system update for the smartphone and tablet devices: iOS 7.
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For instance, he said, 59% of smartphone web traffic comes from IOS, the operating system that powers the iPhone.
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