OpenOffice.org leaves Oracle, becomes LibreOffice

After months of Oracle since it acquired SUN Microsystems, OpenOffice.org, the open-source office software suite that for years has been trying to position itself as a free alternative to the Microsoft Office behemoth, is evolving. A major restructuring of the OpenOffice.org project announced today has separated OpenOffice.org from database developer Oracle, which inherited it when it acquired Sun Microsystems earlier this year.

This removes control of the suite from any one company. As if to highlight the change and signal the start of a new era, the OpenOffice.org project is now officially known as The Document Foundation. Because the OpenOffice.org trademark is owned by Oracle, the software suite itself has been given the temporary name of LibreOffice—"free office." (According to reports, Oracle has been asked to join the Foundation and donate the OpenOffice.org brand to the cause.)

A statement on The Document Foundation's Web site lays out the Foundation's goals:

Our mission is to facilitate the evolution of the OpenOffice.org Community into a new open, independent, and meritocratic organizational structure within the next few months. An independent Foundation is a better match to the values of our contributors, users, and supporters, and will enable a more effective, efficient, transparent, and inclusive Community. We will protect past investments by building on the solid achievements of our first decade, encourage wide participation in the Community, and co-ordinate activity across the Community.

The current version of LibreOffice, LibreOffice 3.3 Beta (picking up at exactly the version number where OpenOffice.org left off) can be downloaded from The Document Foundation's Web site.

So it is a turning point of OpenOffice for better of course.

Samsung introduced Android based tablet

Samsung Galaxy Tab Tablet, it is also called the Android's Dream Machine. This tablet is here to compete with Apple’s just launched tablet iPad. Samsung Galaxy Tab is Samsung’s first tablet device. Nearly half in size as compared to iPad, the Galaxy Tablet has a perfect 7-inch display screen with a pixel resolution of 1024-by-600 .Weighing only 13.8 ounces, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is bound to become a trendy tablet soon amongst the young professional crowd.
With a keyboard which looks relatively similar to the iPad, the typing experience is also good enough. The user interface, however, does not impresses with a large number of newly added features. Little alterations have been rendered to the desktop, the widgets, the status bar and the applications tray. But the calendar, e-mail and music applications do look a bit more exciting and worthy of usage.

The table was on the show in IFA Berlin last week. It's a 7-inch touch-screen tablet featuring Android 2.2, or Froyo, Flash 10.1, 16GB or 32GB of memory, GPS, a gyroscope, accelerometer, and a 3.2-mega-pixel camera with autofocus and a flash.

Samsung hasn't said how much it will cost yet. It could sell for between $200 and $300, but because it will be sold through wireless carriers, each will be allowed to set their own price.

The same WSJ report says that in the U.S., three major carriers--AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint--will sell the Galaxy Tab.

Android to overtake Blackberry and IPhone within this year

Unthinkable when Android was introduced two years by the giant Google. It is happening now. So move over iPhone and Blackberry: the Android is on its way to the top. Thanks to a variety of devices and smart pricing, smart phones based on Google’s OS may take over the US and global cellular market by 2014.
ArsTechnica website reports that Android based devices threaten to take second place from Apple’s iPhone in the American smart phones market and by the end of the year are expected to lead the market. The German research company,Gertner, believes that by 2014 Android based devices will rule the cellular market and their distribution will be second only to Nokia’s Symbian devices. RIM’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone will settle for third and fourth place respectively.
Undoubtedly the data shows an expansion of global Android distribution from 18% today to 30% by 2014. This represents a large chunk of mobile based Android indeed.