Google said Monday, February 27 that 850,000 Android devices - mobile phones and tablet computers - were being activated every day as the software continued to dominate the smartphone market, M&C reported citing DPA.

The U.S. search giant, which created the Android operating system, issued the figures at the Mobile World Congress phone trade fair in Barcelona. It said daily activations, in which new devices connect online to Google's servers, were up 250 per cent from a year ago.

There were now more than 300 million Android devices in use worldwide, the company added.

Its download platform, which offers application programs for the Android smartphones and tablets at prices starting from zero, had increased its product range from 150,000 to 450,000 apps in the last year.

Google allows a range of mobile phone manufacturers to commercialize the Android operating system, but critics complain that there are too many versions of Android on the market.

Some brand new products unveiled at Mobile World in Barcelona even run on Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread, rather than the newest version, Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich.