Trolltech aims to speed Linux phone development
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(InfoWorld) - Trolltech is offering a suite of products designed to make it easier for mobile phone makers to develop Linux-based smart phones. Called the Qtopia Greensuite, it aims to unify the disjointed mobile Linux development environment by bundling together several applications and tools that are available separately today from a variety of vendors. The products in the suite include RealNetworks' mobile multimedia software, Opera Software's mobile phone browser, MontaVista Software's operating system, and Mimer Information Technology's SQL database management product. The suit also includes WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and HTML browsers, messaging software, video and audio recording capabilities, DRM (digital rights management), 3D graphics, video telephony, VOIP (voice over IP) support, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) client and Java MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile). The applications come pre-integrated with Qtopia Phone edition, Trolltech's application development platform for Linux phones. Phone makers that use the suite will save time developing their products because they won't have to integrate all of the software components themselves, Trolltech said. The first version of the suite is due in the second quarter next year. It uses Qtopia's Greenphone as the hardware platform for developing and testing applications. Qtopia introduced the phone, which can operate on a live mobile GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) network, in August. Qtopia Greensuite will be demonstrated at the ITU World Telecom 2006 show, which starts Dec. 4 in Hong Kong. No pricing has been announced yet. While interest in mobile Linux is growing around the world, the disjointed development environment has slowed momentum. Several groups have formed in the past couple of years to try to unify the environment. The Linux Phone Standards Forum, whose members include France Telecom, MontaVista, and VirtualLogix, are creating application programming interfaces to allow applications to interoperate across Linux handsets. TheÂ Mobile Linux Initiative, started by the Open Source Development LabsÂ with members including Motorola, Intel, and NEC, is unifying developments around the mobile Linux kernel. Forty mobile phone makers including Motorola and ZTE Corp. use Qtopia. Motorola is one of the biggest mobile handset makers using Linux, which is most popular as a mobile phone operating system in China.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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The first "open" Linux phone is set to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show, although its capabilities as a music player are still unknown. In Listening Post.
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After Nokia announced plans to acquire open source technology maker Trolltech earlier in the week, Motorola ended the week by showing its support for open source technology, while also stating how it will shift away from Trolltech technologies.
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The Linux Phone Standards Forum expects to post its first mobile phone specifications today.
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InfoWorld - Despite signs that mobile Linux is gaining momentum -- such as the launch of&#160;Motorola&#39;s Linux-based Razr2&#160;-- heated competition, confusion about goals, and slow-moving consortiums may be hindering growth.
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New platform, old handset Linux specialists a la Mobile has demonstrated Google's Android platform running on a mobile phone handset, an HTC Qtek 9090, and explained how a development house might make money from Android.â¦
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Nokia has offered to buy Trolltech, the Norwegian developer of a widely used application framework, for 844 million Norwegian kroner ($153 million) in cash. Nokia hopes the Trolltech development team will give its own software efforts a boost.Trolltech develops Qtopia, a framework used to build user interfaces for mobile and embedded devices, and Qt, a cross-platform application development framework.Nokia hopes to use Trolltech&#39;s expertise to improve the interfaces on its S40 mobile phone and S60 smartphone platforms, but Trolltech targets many software platforms with its application frameworks.In 2006, Samsung unveiled a reference design for a mobile phone running Qtopia Phone Edition on top of a Linux operating system. And the Trolltech team has been working since late 2006 on a version of Qt for Microsoft&#39;s Windows CE and Windows Mobile platforms.Qt is also used in a variety of widely used desktop software, including Skype&#39;s Internet telephony application, the Google Earth satellite photo browser, and Adobe Photoshop Album, now part of the Photoshop Elements image editor, according to Trolltech.The framework is available under commercial and open-source licenses: it is also used by the developers of KDE, a desktop environment for Linux operating systems. Trolltech recently updated the licensing conditions for Qt, making the code available under the GPLv3 license in addition to the GPLv2 license it already uses.The Trolltech team will become part of Nokia&#39;s research and development group, where it plans to continue its work with the developers of KDE.Despite the close relationship Nokia will now have with the developers of KDE, the company will continue to use a rival software platform in its Linux-based N800 and N810 mobile Internet devices.&quot;Our platform for Internet tablets will continue to be based on the Gnome environment,&quot; said Kai &#214;ist&#228;m&#246;, Nokia&#39;s executive vice president for devices.However, Nokia will use Qt in its S40 and S60 platforms, &#214;ist&#228;m&#246; said. He would not say when phones containing the code will reach the market.Nokia has pledged to continue offering commercial and open source licenses for Qt and other Trolltech products as it continues their future development.The two companies expect to complete the acquisition in the second quarter. The deal requires the approval of holders of 90 percent of Trolltech&#39;s shares. Nokia already has support from the holders of 66 percent of the shares, it said.
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First hardware maker to align with community-based Linux offering.
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Forget Windows Mobile 6 -- these open-source handsets might succeed while Linux-on-the-desktop flounders. In Gadget Lab.
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Morgan Gillis discusses the LiMo Foundation's first mobile Linux platform release and why it matters that Nokia bought Trolltech.
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Open-source Linux is coming of age for mobile phones. While Google's Android platform has attracted attention at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, so has LiMo, another Linux-based platform.
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Motorola plans to sell mobile phone network equipment that uses Linux-based code, a step forward in network gear makers&#39; efforts to rally around a standard.
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NEC Corporation and Panasonic Mobile announced that they have developed a Linux-based software platform for third-generation (3G) mobile phones.
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The recipe for a mobile Linux-based application ecosystem Comment Why should an operating system be important for a mobile phone? It shouldn't, but of course mobile phones are no longer simple voice communicators, they are smart devices capable of many methods of communication and other sophisticated applications. Capable and complex, with a high degree of variety required to meet different market and user needs.â¦
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TechWeb - A La Mobile introduces a mobile Linux stack of software, including drives, middleware, and a suite of Android-based apps.
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BenQ has unveiled the user interface for an upcoming Linux-based 'mobile Internet device.'
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InfoWorld - The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum planned to release its first mobile phone specifications on Monday, in hopes of encouraging more applications for Linux phones.