Sunday, April 27, 2008

Qt to be supported in addition to GTK+

Nokia will introduce Qt to the maemo platform in addition to GTK+. The plan is in the earliest stage and recruitment offers for Qt/C++ developers will pop up soon. Don't expect any Qt application developed by Nokia for the tablets anytime soon, though. The first actual step will be the distribution of the Qt libraries for application development in maemo.org during 4Q2008.

Nokia wants to explore cross-platform possibilities between S60 and maemo. It is interesting also to check the interest in the developer community for Qt in the tablets. GTK+ and Qt coexist in the Linux desktop and the mix could work in maemo as well. This is also a way to attract more attention from the KDE community, a sensible move especially if the Trolltech acquisition gets completed.

GTK+ based Hildon continues defining the UI of maemo and the Internet Tablets. The maemo team is developing Hildon further and after the release of the N810 WiMAX edition there is more in the pipeline.


Nokia has no plans to offer a "hildonized" Qt-based UI. Qt applications will look different in the tablets just like some successful 3rd party applications look different. Cross-platform development has its own challenges: the earlier we start the better. 

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