Google claims 500,000 Android activations daily

Users' appetite for Android continues unabated, with more than half a million such devices being activated each day.

So claims Android chief Andy Rubin, who added that week-on-week Android device growth stands at 4.4 per cent.

Rubin did not disclose, in his Tuesday announcement on Twitter, how many of the devices being activated are smartphones and how many are tablet computers, a relatively new competitive battleground in wireless communications.

On December 8, Rubin had tweeted that daily Android phone activations had surpassed 300,000.

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Android smart phones have surpassed Apple's iPhone in popularity as the Google software powers the main handsets of manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC and Motorola Mobility.

These companies have also developed tablet computers based on the Android software to compete with Apple's market-leading iPad.

A report by analyst firm Canalys published in May concurred with the growing popularity of Google's mobile OS.

The report's figures suggested Android had more than a third of the market, when looking at the 100 million devices shipped during the first quarter of 2011.

The same research also revealed Android users consumed more data than other mobile fans.

"Openness [of Android] is probably a big reason leading to more tethering to laptops, tablets and so on, and the open app approach leading to anybody creating what they like, even with sloppy code meaning less efficiency in the apps and more 'chattiness,'" Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca told IT Pro at the time.