Android activations continue at torrid pace

As part of his company's presence at the 2012 Mobile World Congress (MWC), Google senior vice president of mobile and digital content Andy Rubin has released some impressive statistics concerning the Android™ mobile operating system.

In a post on Google's Mobile Blog, Rubin states that Android activations now hover around 850,000 per day, bringing the total number of Android-powered devices, which includes tablet computers, to 300 million worldwide.

Daily activations of Android have spiked 250 percent during the past year, Rubin says.

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

Further evidence of Android's rapid rise can be found in the Android Market. At last year's MWC event, Google announced that its marketplace contained 150,000 applications. Now, Rubin reports, there are more than 450,000 apps.

The annual Mobile World Congress gives device manufacturers and app and platform developers the opportunity to showcase and debut new products. According to technology news provider eWeek, plenty of Android tablets earned attention at the event with the idea that many will be positioned to compete with the forthcoming Apple® iPad® 3.