Mobiles

According to research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics surpassed Motorola in the third quarter to became the largest mobile phone vendor in the United States. Samsung's broad device portfolio across multiple carriers, technologies and segments were the key reasons behind its growth.

South Korean vendors, Samsung and LG Electronics, both gained marketshare, controlling 22.4% and 20.5% respectively. At the same time Motorola, who has been the top vendor in the US since 2004, saw market share falling to 21.1% from 32.7% a year before. Nokia saw its market share falling from a year ago to 8.4%.

The research firm said overall handset sales in the United States defied the economic gloom and grew 6.2% from a year ago to 47.4 million phones in the quarter.

The consolidation in the wireless industry continues. Fresh off the news that Verizon's acquisition of Alltel is likely to go through, AT&T is also acquiring a smaller player.

According to the AP and Mercury News, AT&T has agreed to acquire Centennial Communications (NASDAQ: CYCL) for a cash deal of $944 million. The deal will add approximately 1.1 million customers to its subscriber base. Centennial has operations in rural areas of the Midwest and Southeast United States, along with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

AT&T hopes the deal will close by the second quarter of 2009.

SlashGear has got the AT&T Quickfire and posted their first impression on the QWERTY messaging phone. “The resistive touchscreen seems responsive, with large - if a little bland - icons; it’s larger than that of the Sidekick, by 0.2-inches, but lower resolution at 320 x 240 versus 400 x 240.  Still, it was clear enough to keep IM conversations going, and the fact that you can touch it to navigate (rather than use a D-pad or trackball) keeps things moving quickly.” Read the full first impression on SlashGear after the jump!