(Click for larger view of Qt running on various S60 devices)
Qt (pronounced "cute") is maintained by Qt Software, now a division of Nokia, which acquired Qt creator Trolltech in June. The "device" version of the Qt tools has long supported Linux, but was ported to Windows Mobile just prior to the acquisition. Now, with the addition of S60 -- Nokia's customized version of the now open source Symbian stack -- Qt is available for all the most popular smartphone OSes.
This video shows Qt running Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Linux phones
(Click to play)
In similar fashion, the desktop version of Qt has long supported Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. Primarily a developer tools company, Qt Software's (formerly Trolltech's) mission has long been to provide cross-platform tools that let developers compile binaries from a single C++ source-code base. The resulting binaries yield a "native" look and feel on each targeted platform, for a more natural user experience than Java applications typically offer, the company has long contended. Native applications may also offer faster performance than managed ones, and integrate more easily with other native software on the device.
Qt for S60 screenshots
(Click any to enlarge)
The pre-release downloads of Qt for S60 are available in open source and commercial versions, with "no real difference" between them, according to a Nokia developer's blog. However, since open source compilers cannot yet build software for the S60 platform, the open source version adds binaries (built with Nokia's RVCT compiler), enabling open source developers to try out their software.
According to a blog post by a Nokia developer, the pre-release download includes: QtCore - all the non-Gui classes
QtGui - painting and widgets
QtNetwork - TCP, HTTP, etc.
QtTest - unit testingThe pre-release launch came at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London today. Nokia said the addition of S60 as a target adds some 80 million potential target devices that Qt-based software can target. Along with the dual-licensed Qtopia Extended (formerly "Qtopia") application stack for phones, PDAs, and other devices, Qt applications today include Google Earth, the Opera browser for Linux, Adobe AIR (for "standalone" flash-based applications), and of course the KDE Desktop Environment (KDE) family of popular Linux desktop applications.
Sebastian Nystrom, VP of Qt at Nokia, stated, "Qt brings an elegant and intuitive C++ development tool to the S60 platform, improving the ability to develop richer user experiences on the platform, and making S60 on Symbian OS even more attractive for developers to target with their applications and services."
According to Nokia, Qt on S60 will work with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and later releases. The first production release of Qt for S60 will be available in the second quarter of 2009, it said. To learn more, have a look at this blog post. Or, go right for the download, here.
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