160,000 Android phones activated daily says Google; Android Market down?

According to Google VP Andy Rubin, the company is activating 160,000 Android handsets a day, up from the 60,000 figure reported by CEO Eric Schmidt in February. That works out to 2 Android handsets activated every second of the day. What is behind this amazing surge in Google users? It seems that the increasing number of hot, sexy, super spec'd Android models is behind this momentum. Including the just introduced Motorola DROID X heading to Verizon next month, fully loaded devices like the HTC EVO 4G available at Sprint, the Samsung Galaxy S-which is expected to head to all 4 top U.S. carriers-and the Galaxy S Pro are producing heavy demand for Google's open source OS. Throw in other well received Android models, some of which are going to get upgraded to Android 2.2, and you have a successful competitor to the iPhone. CEO Schmidt, though, doesn't think about this being a battle. When asked which company he considers his main competitor-Apple, or Nokia-the executive said, "I try to spend my time not focusing on those questions."

"How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" In the 1970's, this was a question that many kids and adults pondered. Today, the new question that you can use to kill some time trying to answer is, "How many apps are there in the Android Market?" By the latest count, Google says 68,000 apps is the answer, up from the 50,000 that Google claimed back at Google I/O. Speaking of the Android Market, some are reporting that the service is down today and has been for most of the afternoon. Must be those guys counting the number of apps.

source: androinica, AndroidGuys, Phandroid (Android Market down)