Nokia has released a new version of the cross-platform application and UI framework Qt 4.6, which features new platform support, graphical capabilities and support for multi-touch and gestures for developing applications and devices.
The company said that the Qt 4.6 includes support for the Symbian platform for the first time while also adding Windows 7, Apple Mac OS 10.6 and the upcoming Maemo 6 to the list of supported platforms. Also available is community support for real-time operating systems QNX and VxWorks, with support for Maemo 5 currently in development.
The company claims that the Qt support for Symbian and Maemo creates opportunity for developers to target both of these platforms from the same codebase, enabling applications created to reach market faster and reach broader audience of device users.
The company has also released a technology preview of new Qt APIs from the Qt mobility project, which provides developers with functionality such as location for navigation-type devices, messaging, contacts and bearer management.
According to Nokia, the Qt 4.6 builds upon the graphical improvements of 4.5 and enhances them with the addition of new Animation Framework plus new graphics effects like opacity, drop shadows, glow, and filtering. It includes multi-touch gesture based input methods such as flicking and kinetic scrolling to create new ways for users to interact with applications and devices.
In addition, the performance improvements come in the form of an optimised, re-written Qt GraphicsView rendering algorithm, a new OpenGL paint engine, WebKit, 2D vector graphic support using OpenVG, and new DirectFB support.
Sebastian Nystrm, vice president of application services and frameworks at Nokia, said: Qt 4.6 marks an exciting time for developers, regardless of their target form factor or platform. Developers can easily create visually appealing and web-connected applications for desktops or devices, including targeting the hundreds of millions of Symbian and Maemo-based devices.”
