Platform is basis for mobile development: News from Trolltech

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New from Trolltech, the Qtopia Greenphone is billed as the first open Linux mobile device for application developers. Greenphone enables commercial and open source developers, in-house software developers and handset manufacturers to create, modify and test Linux- based mobile phone applications on a working GSM/GPRS device, making the applications easier to build and faster to bring to market. Greenphone will be offered as part of a complete software development kit (SDK) and includes Trolltech's Qtopia Phone Edition, a comprehensive application platform and user interface for Linux-based mobile phone.

Although not intended as a commercial mobile phone, Greenphone has many of the communication functions and features found in today's sophisticated smartphones.

Developers can exploit these features and functions in developing their own unique applications.

Greenphone is the first in a series of open mobile devices the company plans to make available in co-operation with its partners.

Greenphone is a functioning mobile camera phone with the capability to reflash the applications of the device.

'So far, Trolltech's Qtopia Linux framework has been successfully implemented in a number of mobile devices from leading manufacturers such as Motorola'.

'The introduction of Greenphone will strengthen Trolltech's position as a leading Linux middleware provider and should be taken seriously as a software reference for building an open Linux ecosystem capable of competing with other established OS platforms', said Dominic Lee, Research Analyst, Informa Telecoms and Media.

'With Greenphone, the sky is the limit when it comes to creating and testing new applications on a powerful mobile device platform', said Haavard Nord, co-CEO, Trolltech.

'Developers can create applications to suit the evolving needs of carriers and end users with a dramatically reduced development cycle', added Eirik Chambe-Eng, co-CEO, Trolltech.

Greenphone, as part of a SDK, comes packaged with Trolltech's Qtopia Phone Edition.

Unlike a normal mobile phone, Greenphone's application software is 'opened' for developer creativity.

Combined with Qtopia Phone Edition licensing, a developer has the freedom to create and then integrate and test the results right on the device.

Full documentation and a highly productive suite of tools are provided for customisation and extension of Qtopia Phone Edition.

Qtopia is used in 52 different device types of which 11 are mobile phones models.

To date, there are more than four million Qtopia-based mobile phones in the market including mobile phones from Motorola, ZTE and Cellon.

Built with Qt, Qtopia inherits the proven strengths of Qt, Trolltech's industry-leading cross-platform application framework.

Qt's open source and commercial customer community, which number in the hundreds of thousands, have a 12-year history of application development.

Qt is also the basis for the desktop Linux environment, KDE.

Trolltech's ecosystem of partners - which include third-party applications, consulting and training and testing tools companies - and customers including Google, Adobe and Skype, provide for a rich community of developers familiar with Qt and Qtopia technology.

Greenphone's availability is expected to accelerate the growth of this already large community.

Greenphone will be available mid-September in limited quantities only.

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Platform is basis for mobile development

The Qtopia Greenphone is billed as the first open Linux mobile device for application developers.