Mark Bridge writes:

With less than a fortnight until Christmas, it’s probably time to order the turkey and start thinking about gifts. What could be a better present than being given your very own mobile operating system?

That’s what’s happening over at HP, which is making its webOS software available to the open source community. The big question now is whether developers will respond with “lovely, just what I wanted” or a slightly embarrassed “oh, I’ve already got one of those.”

Panasonic has announced it’ll be expanding its smartphone business into Europe from March 2012.

The flagship ‘global’ smartphone is likely to be waterproof and dustproof with a 4.3-inch organic LED screen. Full specifications haven’t been revealed, although it’s expected to be an Android device with built-in NFC connectivity.

Mobile and wireless research firm iSuppli Corp says its Q2 2010 list of the fastest-growing smartphone manufacturers is dominated by companies utilising the Android operating system.

NTT DOCOMO, Renesas Electronics, Fujitsu, NEC, Panasonic and Sharp have announced an agreement that'll see them working together to develop a new application platform for mobile phones. The new platform, which promises improved processing speeds for high-quality video and 3D graphics, is intended to cut development time and costs for the four Japanese mobile phone manufacturers.

The new platform will be compatible with both the Symbian and Linux operating systems, while Android compatibility hasn't been ruled out. Mobile phones incorporating the new platform are expected to be seen in late 2011 or early 2012.