Droid Really Does: Set To Be No. 2 OS This Year (GOOG)

It's amazing what a good marketing scheme, coupled with an awesome product can do. Google's

Android operating system is set to become the world's number 2 smart phone operating system this year,

Android became the No. 1 operating system in the U.S. in the second quarter this year, said research firm Gartner. This comes despite the popularity of Apple's

iPhone, Research in Motion's

Blackberry, and Microsoft's

Windows 7. Google is looking to keep its dominance in search, as it ships the Android software free to vendors, who install it on their phones. More than 200,000 Android phones, from are sold everyday, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. By 2014, number 1 operating system Symbian, developed by Nokia

will have 30.4% of the market, compared to Android's 29.6%. The race for the top spot is on, and Android is gunning for it.