Google reports 700,000 new Android devices activated every day

By Rick Marshall December 21, 2011

In the battle for mobile platform dominance, Android is increasing its presence to the tune of 700,000 new devices every single day.

The number was reported by Android platform chief Andy Rubin (in a post on Google Plus, of course), and indicates an impressive rate of growth for Google popular mobile platform. Back in July, the company reported that it was activating 550,000 new devices each day.

And just to head off those who’d question the definition of a “new activation,” Rubin followed up his original post with some clarification:

…and for those wondering, we count each device only once (ie, we don’t count re-sold devices), and “activations” means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service.

Google announced last month that it had activated over 200 million new Android devices — a number that indicates the mobile platform war is far from over.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Mobile

Google gives Android 13 a magic trick for music playback at CES 2023

Mockup image of Android 13's uninterrupted listening feature.

Android 13 launched last year, but Google is far from done working on it. A new feature announced at CES 2023 makes playing audio from Android devices on Bluetooth speakers easier than ever. Dubbed "uninterrupted listening," the feature aims to make transitioning from listening to audio content on your phone to other devices seamless and intuitive.

Uninterrupted listening gives users notifications on their phones when they get close to an audio device. As you go through your home, you might want to start listening to a song or podcast on another device (like your smart speaker or TV) based on your proximity to them. Listening to a song on your Pixel Buds Pro but walking into the kitchen near your Nest Audio? You'd get a notification prompting you to instantly transfer the audio from your earbuds to the speaker.

Mobile

Google’s Android monopoly finds its biggest challenge, and Apple might be next

Apps screen on the Google Pixel 7.

The Competition Commission of India slapped Google with two hefty fines over anti-competitive strategies that have allowed it to dominate the mobile ecosystem in India. Totaling over $250 million, the penalties reprimand Google for forcing smartphone makers to avoid Android forks, prefer Google’s web search service, and pre-install popular cash cows like YouTube on phones.

Google was also disciplined for forcing its own billing system on developers that allowed the giant to take up to a 30% share of all in-app purchases for applications listed on the app store. Google is not really a stranger to titanic penalties; The EU handed Google a record-breaking fine of approximately $5 billion in 2018 for abusing its dominant market position — a penalty that was upheld in September this year following Google’s appeal.

Mobile

Google Chrome is getting the Android tablet update you’ve been waiting for

Google Chrome app on s8 screen.

Google today announced the release of its redesign for the Chrome app on Android tablets. After long being neglected on the big screen, especially in comparison to Apple's or Samsung's browsers, Google says it'll be rebuilding the browser to help you get work done faster with a tablet or other large-screened device.

These updates can be broken down into design and functionality improvements, and we'll be kicking things off with the redesign. The first change adds a new side-by-side design when using Chrome paired with another app. This comes with an auto-scroll back feature so you can swipe between tabs, hiding the close buttons when your tabs are too small to prevent mis-taps — plus the inclusion of a restore feature.