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TAL K IN G P OI N T S TA LKI N By Christa Miller, Ronen Engler and Lee Papathanasiou A D V A N C E M E N T S I N C O M M U N I C AT I O N S T E C H N O L O G Y Smartphone overload: Prepare to overcome the challenges posed by an abundance of mobile operating systems M ost everyone is familiar with the top three mobile operating systems that have dominated the worldwide smartphone market for a number of years. Android, iOS and BlackBerry are household names, even as they compete among one another each quarter for market share. This grouping might be comparable to the Windows-Apple-Linux trifecta that has gone largely unchanged since 44 Law Enforcement Technology the early 1990s, when Windows rose to attain—and maintain—a 90-percent market share. However, there are some marked differences. ■ Before smartphones gained widespread adoption, the Windows operating system might have been found on a few hundred PC-based platforms. By contrast, each iOS, Android and BlackBerry version might be found on any of several thousand types of smart- June 2013 www.officer.com phones and tablets. ■ New PC operating systems are released every few years, whereas new mobile platform versions are released every few months. Eight "flavors" of the Android operating system, six major iOS versions, and five major BlackBerry versions exist—each with its own subsets. ■ The "big three" aren't alone. Windows Mobile/Windows Phone and Nokia's