850,000 Android devices are activated a day

MOBILE SOFTWARE FIRM Google has boasted that 850,000 Android smartphones that are activated every day.

That is a lot of phones, and the firm says that there are 300 million handsets running its operating systems out there.

"Each and every day, we are humbled by the trajectory of Android and our partners. With a year-on-year growth rate of more than 250 per cent, 850,000 new Android devices are activated each day, jetting the total number of Android devices around the world past 300 million," said Andy Rubin, SVP of Mobile and Digital Content at Google.

"These numbers are a testament to the break-neck speed of innovation that defines the Android ecosystem."

In its latest financial report Apple said that it sold 37.04 million Iphones last quarter, and we have asked the cappuccino company if it has a number for total Iphone sales to date.

Rubin suggested that an increase in available apps for the operating system aided the increase, saying that in the last year the number of apps has tripled to 450,000.

"Last year at Mobile World Congress (MWC), we announced that there were more than 150,000 apps in Android Market. That number tripled to more than 450,000 apps today, with over one billion app downloads happening every month," he added.

"Think about the astonishing number of songs Shazam'ed, places Qype'ed and foursquare mayorships!" µ