Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone shipments for the third quarter to become the world’s number one smartphone vendor, according to new data from Strategy Analytics.

Handset manufacturer Nokia has partnered with location-based application Jiepang to reward Chinese consumers for checking in on their NFC-enabled smartphones.

Car rental provider Hertz is keeping up with its busy consumers and letting them reserve a vehicle via their Android, Nokia and BlackBerry devices.

Developer energy is shifting back to Apple as fragmentation and unenthusiastic interest in current Android tablets take away from Google’s recent gains, according to an Appcelerator study.

The recently launched smartphone application from Whitbread’s Premier Inn has generated more than $1.6 million in total revenue in the three months since its January debut.

ORLANDO, FL – As near field communication continues to gain momentum, merchants and marketers should realize that it enables more than just contactless payments – it can be used to inspire consumer loyalty, according to a panel at CTIA Wireless 2011.

The top executive at MoreMagic Solutions, a global mobile commerce and financial services provider, said that mobile payments have made great strides but that the industry is still two or three years away from mass-market adoption.

Top 10 Produce LLC has launched Locale, a strawberry brand that is traceable to the independent farm that grew the produce by scanning on-package bar codes using mobile devices.

Worldwide mobile device sales to consumers exceeded 1.6 billion units in 2010, a 31.8 percent increase from 2009, with smartphones leading the way, according to Gartner Inc.

Whitbread PLC’s Premier Inn, Britain’s largest budget hotel chain, tapped Fujitsu to launch commerce-enabled applications for various smartphone operating systems.