"If European policymakers were looking for a way to undermine the public trust that underpins the foundation of any banking system they could not have done a better job, " said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets.

NPR: Cyprus Deposit Tax Rattles Markets

Jan Dawson, senior telecoms analyst at Ovum, said home was the "next best thing" to creating a Facebook operating system for mobiles.

BBC: Facebook's release of 'home' spurs privacy worries

"Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number 2 position in 2010, " said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

ENGADGET: IDC fails to learn from previous mistakes, issues 2015 smartphone predictions