In between the announcements about iPods, Apple TV, and a music-oriented social network, Apple and Google’s mobile rivalry heated up a little more today.  Steve Jobs, while discussing the success of iOS, also tossed out what was likely a veiled insult at Eric Schmidt and Android.

Remember how Schmidt said in early August that 200,000 Android devices were being activated every day?  It’s that figure – and Google’s method of counting – that Apple’s CEO seemed to bring into question.

"People throw out a lot of numbers about how many devices they’re activating per day," said Jobs according to Ryan Block.  Then Apple’s CEO continued, "We are doing 230,000 activations a day.  We think our friends may be counting upgrades – if we were counting upgrades, that would be way higher."

That’s an interesting statement.  It’s of course hard to imagine that Jobs has the iOS numbers wrong; no one’s in a better position to collect more accurate data, and the SEC encourages CEOs to avoid misleading anyone.  But the same observations apply to Schmidt and Android stats.

Google may well weigh in to clarify the matter (or "coincidentally" share some Android growth numbers) later this week.  Or Eric Schmidt might at least save up a witty comment or two for the next time he’s on camera.

Anyway, neither company’s suffering due to today’s events at the moment.  Google’s stock rose 2.29 percent today, and Apple’s gained an even more impressive 2.97 percent.