Sharp officials have announced that they plan to release an American version of their popular Zaurus PDA before Christmas. Also announced is their choice of Linux as the OS for the new non-Japanese versions of the Zaurus.

Officials stated that the Zaurus, which now captures roughly half of the Japanese PDA market, will continue to use their own operating system in Japan. The move towards linux is only for overseas devices.

The linux versions of the Zaurus will be able to run programs coded in Java according to Sharp spokespeople. It is hoped that the open source nature of the Linux OS will create an interest in the new product because developers will be able to create software for it without having to pay for a license.