A day at the races
Google is activating 160,000 Android mobiles a day, demonstrating a significant take-up of the operating system and Android app Marketplace.
The search giant's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, told the Guardian 4.8 million Android phones are now activated monthly and he expects that number to grow.
Google estimates around 100,000 Android mobiles were activated daily in May, indicating staggering sales growth of 60 percent a month. The number of apps available to Android users has also increased to about 65,000 compared to 50,000 just one month ago.
Such dramatic take-up of the Android operating system has led Schmidt to compare it to Windows, but for mobiles. However, he avoided comparing Android's current market position to that of Apple's, which is currently struggling to meet demand for its iPhone 4, launched today.
Android has widened the market for applications, enabling developers to write apps designed to work on any Android handset and phone manufacturers to add their own apps too. This contrasts sharply with Apple's highly regulated App Store, which still leads the way in terms of the number of free and paid-for apps, boasting around 250,000 in total.
There is however speculation whether Android developers can cash-in on their application creations as well as Apple app wizards. While Steve Jobs says Apple has paid out an amazing $1bn to developers of apps, Larva Labs, which develops applications for Android, estimated in the Guardian piece that Android developers have earned just $20m collectively.