If Google's Q1 2011 earnings disappointed the market, one area of the firm's business that stood out as being in rude health was Android.

Delivering a one-two punch, the firm revealed it's currently activating 350,000 Android devices daily, up from the previously quoted 300,000 in November 2010. 

People are using their devices too. Total app installs from Android Market have surpassed the 3 billion mark.

The latest download milestone comes just two months after Google revealed that app downloads had hit 2 billion.

Chasing down Apple

"We're activating over 350,000 Android devices every day," said senior VP of commerce and local at Google, Jeff Huber, in an earnings call.

"Android Market is taking off too. Over 3 billion apps have been installed, up 50 percent in just the last quarter."

Both figures suggest Android is still enjoying strong growth across the board, with the leap between 2 billion and 3 billion installs tracking at a faster pace than the App Store enjoyed at the turn of 2010.

Though Apple passed the 10 billion download mark in January 2011, a year previously its total sat at 3 billion – three months after downloads had topped 2 million.

[source: Seeking Alpha]