On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Panasonic reveals the first details of its re-entry in the European mobile market with the Eluga-- a 4.3" Android smartphone revealed at the Panasonic Convention 2012.

The company says the phone is not only be light (weighing 103g) but also water and dust proof. The display has 960x540 resolution, with no mention of whether it is LCD or OLED.

Very few details are currently available, but Panasonic says Eluga users will be able to transfer images and videos to Panasonic TVs using the "swipe" Smart Viera app.

The phone should launch on March 2012, and we should have more details before then.

Go Panasonic Eluga Announcement (Twitter)

LG previews what it will show at Mobile World Congress 2012 and announcing the Optimus Vu-- a smartphone-tablet hybrid with a 5" touchscreen, similar to the Dell Streak and the Galaxy Note.

The unusual IPS LCD display uses a 4:3 aspect ratio (1024x768 resolution) and is stylus-friendly. The device itself is not too thick (8.5mm) and carries a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM and 32GB of internal memory. It also has x2 cameras (8MP rear-, 1.3MP front-facing)

The OS however is outdated, being Android 2.3 (aka Gingerbread) but LG already promises Ice Cream Sandwich updates.

Like the Note, it features a stylus-- one LG calls the "Rubberdium pen."

Will customers warm up to LG take on the pad-phone/"phablet" format? We will know once the Optimus Vu hits the market on March 2012.

Go LG Optimus Vu

The Financial Times reports Fujitsu plans to take on the European market with a "wide range" of smartphones and tablets using both Android and Windows platforms.

The Fujitsu mobile device launch will most probably take place at Mobile World Congress 2012, the FT continues.

The company is fairly successful in its home Japan, taking over around 20% of the Japanese mobile market. It has a number of unique (or at least interesting) offerings, including the super-slim Arrow ES 1S12F and the bizarre dual-booting (Windows and Symbian) F-07C.

The FT says Fujitsu handsets will be NFC- and LTE-enabled, and carry biometric security measures.

Fujitsu is not the only Japanese vendor looking to expand its borders-- both Panasonic and Sharp also have plans to enter the European mobile market.

Go Fujitsu plans European Smartphone Entry

A spike in Q4 2011 iPhone sales (due to the iPhone 4S launch) "saved" an otherwise slow W. European smartphone market, Gartner says-- while other vendors such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and RIM show "disappointing" results.

On a global level, Q4 2011 smartphone sales to end users total 149M units with Y-o-Y growth reaching 47.3%. Smartphone sales for 2011 reach 472M units (up by 58% Y-o-Y) accounting for 31% of the total mobile device market.