A new Ofcom report says smartphone ownership nearly doubled in the UK between February 2010 and August 2011 - increasing from 24% to 46% penetration - with take-up higher in the UK than in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

In addition, the number of people using their mobiles to go online was higher in the UK than in any other country surveyed.

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.

The GSMA, which represents almost 800 mobile operators worldwide, has released a set of European statistics from its Mobile Observatory series.

It outlines the state of the mobile industry in Europe, from competition and innovation to including social and economic development.

The winners of the inaugural Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards have been announced at a ceremony attended by Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda.

The competition was launched earlier this year in partnership with AGE Platform Europe and the European Disability Forum. Its aim was to reward developers who’d used the power of smartphones and the mobile internet to support the needs of disabled and older people.

The new Telefónica Digital business unit has reached an agreement with security technology company Giesecke & Devrient to establish a single European-wide platform for Near Field Communication services.

It means that G&D will take care of the ‘Trusted Service Manager’ technology and will also be one of the suppliers of NFC-enabled SIM cards.