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Google Android creator Andy Rubin said Dec. 8 that there are now 300,000 Android phones being activated each day.
The stat, which Rubin delivered via this rare tweet late Wednesday, came two days after he reiterated at D: Dive into Mobile that Google was seeing more than 200,000 activations of Android smartphones each day. Rubin’s tweet was seconded by Android developer Dan Morrill.
Google’s count of Android activations has been vociferously smacked down by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who skewered Google’s claims of Android being open and sporting 200,000 daily activations in October.
Jobs countered that Apple is seeing 275,000 daily activations of devices based on iOS, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Apple sold more than 14 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, but Android handsets are also flying off shelves at a c clip of 9 or 10 million per month.
ComScore said Android market share makes up 23.5 percent of U.S. smartphone sales, trailing Apple, at 24.6 percent, and RIM, at 35. 8 percent.
Strong sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S devices and Motorola Droid X and Droid 2 have carried Android, with Samsung recently grabbing the crown as top Android handset seller in the U.S. from Motorola.
Samsung has shipped more than 3 million Galaxy S devices since the Vibrant, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate and Mesmerize launched this past summer.
Samsung is set to roll out the Nexus S Android 2.3 device Dec. 16 from T-Mobile and Best Buy. The device is equipped with an NFC (near field communications) chip that could facilitate sensor-based mobile payments.
Moreover, Android phone users are proving super hungry for data, downloading applications and doing other things with their gadgets in addition to making calls, according to a study by software maker Arieso.
At Dive into Mobile, Rubin also hinted that he had discussions with Nokia, prompting speculation that a deal is in the works to get Android on smartphones from the world’s top handset maker.
Rubin also unveiled a prototype Motorola tablet based on the Android 3.0, or Honeycomb build. Both the tablet and OS build will appear in 2011.