• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, December 11, 2009

With Top 10 list season in full swing, Nielsen is chiming in with its own selection for most popular trends across media. This year the research firm added new mobile categories including top ringtones, and top brands and video channels, highlighting the segment growing into its "third-screen" moniker.

When it comes to the most popular phones, it's clear a shift is underway this year with the iPhone 3G dethroning the Motorola Razr V3 as the top device, with a 4% share among all U.S. subscribers. A close second was the BlackBerry 8300, with a 3.7% share and the Razr dropping to third, at 2.1% (down from 9.3% in 2008.) The LG VX9100 and LG Voyager rounded out the top five, with a 2.1% and 1.7% share, respectively.

With the iPhone and BlackBerry moving into the lead for the first time, calling 2009 the year of the smartphone might not be pure hype. Last year, the original iPhone ranked fourth, with a 1.5% share, and the BlackBerry fifth, at 1.2%.

There were few surprises among the top mobile sites, with Google Search, Yahoo Mail and Gmail claiming the top three slots followed by the Weather Channel and Facebook. MySpace didn't make the top 10, underscoring how Facebook is winning the social networking battle in mobile as well as on the wired Web. For that matter, Twitter didn't crack the top 10 either.

The top brands mostly mirrored the top sites, while YouTube ranked at the No. 1 mobile video channel, followed by a familiar cable and broadcast networks including Fox, Comedy Central, CBS, MTV and ESPN. Topping the ringtone chart was the fittingly titled "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" from Soulja Boy Tell'em featuring Sammie. But you've all got that on your phones, so that's probably no big surprise.