By Alexandra Burlacu | Sep 12, 2012 12:16 PM EDT
Google has confirmed that as many as 500 million Android devices have been activated across the world, and more than 1.3 million new devices add to that figure each day. Google's Hugo Barra announced the impressive milestone in a post on the company's social network, Google+.
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"Today is a big day for Android...500 million devices activated globally, and over 1.3 million added every single day," Barra boasted. "Oh, and btw, the Jelly Bean statue is back in our front yard :)"
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt had already told the audience at Motorola's "On Display" event last week that 1.3 million Android devices are activated every day, and noted that the half-billion count was coming up. The phenomenal number shows the dominance of Google's popular Android mobile operating system, especially compared to Apple's 500,000 daily device activations.
Recent stats also confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich, the second-most recent Android version, continues to replace Gingerbread on active Android phones, and 4.x versions of the OS are now running on over a fifth of phones and tablets. Schmidt also noted, however, that only 70,000 of those 1.3 million devices are tablets. That means tablets account for just five percent of daily activations.
Meanwhile, Apple sold 17 million iPads and 28 million iPhones during the same quarter ended on June 30. That means that tablets account for more than a third of Apple's iOS device sales. Google's five percent lags far behind Apple's 37 percent, but Schmidt himself admitted that Google arrived late on the tablet market.
The news of the impressive milestone comes just ahead of Apple's iPhone 5 event, where CEO Tim Cook will likely open with the latest batch of iOS usage figures. Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, is expected to become hugely popular, especially with its Passbook feature that stores boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, and the like. Android has been building its advantage in large-screen phones, offering more screen real estate that the 3.5-inch displays on Apple's iPhones. Now, however, Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPhone with a roughly 4-inch panel display and iOS 6, so things may change.
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