According to the latest statistics regarding the Apple iOS and the Google Android activations, the market peaked during the 2011 winter holidays. Just like in every year, Apple launched a new generation for the iOS in the summer.

It came with over 1500 new applications and 200 extra facilities. It perfected all the essential aspects. The most important changes came with the notification area, which is now more complete, easier to use and more accessible. The news stand, for instance, centralizes all the news in order to give the users quick access to any information. Besides, Twitter is also successfully integrated in most of the Apple iOS functions. The mobile version of Safari was also improved a little with this new release, providing the opportunity to save a web page in order to view it later, while for iPad, the browser has some PC-like tabs.

The reminding application – Reminders – takes care of all your daily activities and sorts them according to the location. At the same time, the mail includes now the rich text formatting, a dictionary and the extremely useful option to search for particular keywords throughout your messages. The camera is now accessible from the main screen to rush the general procedures a little. You can take a picture by pressing the sound button, plus you got access to a wide variety of processing options. The upcoming updates are said to no longer require the connection to a PC. They will only download the relevant data. The experts also worked on Gamer and iMessage, but the updates are not significant. Apple iOS 5 was distributed starting with the fall season.

What about Google Android? The Google platform is just as successful and marks positive results on the line. After a significant growth for 2011 and a continuously growing number of users, the operating system became a serious thread for the powerful iOS. According to a basic definition, Android is an operating system used for smartphones. The platform was first used on T Mobile G1, which was released in 2008.

The Google experts just couldn't make a better decision when they decided to launch Android as an open source system. Unlike iOS, which is strictly under the Apple control, or the Blackberry operating system, which exclusively resumes to the RIM devices, Android is not specific for particular devices. As a matter of fact, any hardware manufacturer can develop products on this platform. Besides, Android is just as good as an operating system itself. It is as fast as the iOS and it provides a flexible and easy to use interface. It is manned with a multitude of options, not to mention about the constant updates for the overall improvement of the system.

Both Apple and Google spend all day long bragging around about the wide variety of applications in their stores. The truth is that each store has reached to a critical limit long ago. As a matter of fact, the war is now taken on the affiliate websites that provide the same applications, such as Evernot, Dropbox or Amazon Kindle. Shortly, iTunes has more than 350,000 iPhone applications, plus a few thousands for iPad. On the other hand, Android had more than 100,000 applications by the end of 2010 and many more in 2011. And this is just a sample.

According to the same statistics, 2011 saw around 1.5 million activations on a daily basis for both iOS and Google Android. The Christmas day represented a peak. Both systems saw 6.8 million activations, which represents 353% more. Moreover, the application downloads were just as popular, with 125% more, meaning around 242 million downloads. Google earns around 24 cents for each downloaded application, while Apple earns 300% more. The Android boss – Andy Rubin – has confirmed 3.7 million activations in the Christmas weekend. Normally, in a regular day, the company brags with 700,000 "only".

Overall, Google Android is currently the toughest competition for iOS. The battle for supremacy is only in its first years though. With such amazing results, this industry is pretty dazzling. Most statistics claim millions in both sides, while the updates keep flowing. Making a decision is hard. The customers are just as confused. With such a rough competition and attractive offers, they might soon lose the interest in the operating system and concentrate on the smartphones instead. At the same time, what works for some may not work for others. The opinions are split in two. Although Apple iOS is still the front runner, Google Android is quickly grabbing land from behind.