Android hits 500 million device activations as iPhone 5 debuts

On the big iPhone 5 launch day Google is trying to be a fly in Apple's ointment releasing figures that show that the Android OS is extremely popular and the number of converts to the OS continues to grow. Late Tuesday, Google fired off a press release that bragged 500 million Android devices have been activated so far and 1.3 million more are activated each day. But analyst say Android's momentum is going to hit some speed bumps soon thanks to Apple and Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.

Google's milestone announcement comes just under five years since Android first debuted in November 2007.

Android product manager Hugo Barra says that based on current adoption rates to the mobile OS, Google should hit one billion activations in less than a year from now. That's just in time for Android's sixth birthday.

"It's a big day for Android," Barra said.

Now the bad news for Android. Upward momentum with Android appears to have come just in the weeks and months before the iPhone 5's launch. Experts say it's a good bet that you'll see Android's momentum slow a bit now that the iPhone 5 is out. Another factor to take into account is the rise of Windows Phone 8.

The result of the Samsung vs. Apple case may give manufacturers and wireless carriers a reason to consider releasing more devices based on Microsoft's mobile operating system. Combine this with the 50 million devices Apple should sell this quarter, according to analyst firm Informa, and that's a lot of pressure on Android.

Analyst David McQueen believes it will be an interesting holiday season. "Apple won't have it all its own way to the end of the year as it faces continued pressure from Samsung and now Nokia with its new range of Lumia devices running on the Windows Phone 8," he says.

"In combination, the strength of these devices and platforms will combine to give the most competitive and intriguing smartphone quarter for a number of years," McQueen says.