Qt 4.6 with multitouch released plus second Maemo 5 tech preview [Video]
Nokia have pushed Qt 4.6 out of the door, complete with support for multitouch and gestures, a new Animation Framework, and a new OpenGL paint engine. The app and UI framework also gains compatibility with a broader range of platforms, including Windows 7, OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Symbian and Maemo 6. Meanwhile Maemo 5 support continues to develop, with Nokia releasing a second technology preview today.
Video demos after the cut
That second preview follows on from October's first code example, which coincided with the initial confirmation from Nokia that they would be making Qt compatible with the OS running on the Nokia N900. Before that, developers had been told that Maemo 5 would be bypassed by Qt in favor of Maemo 6, set to debut in late 2010, leaving the N900 in something of a limbo situation.
As well as Qt 4.6, Nokia have updated their Qt Creator tool for cross-platform development. With them, they reckon it's easy to create apps with advanced UI and support for multitouch and gestures such as flicking, kinetic scrolling and pinch-zooming (as long as the hardware supports it, of course).
Mobile demos on Maemo and Symbian:
Qt everywhere on Mobile Platforms:
Qt everywhere on all platforms
Qt multitouch and gesture demos:
Qt for Maemo 5 technical preview two demo:
Press Release:
Nokia releases Qt 4.6Now easier than ever for developers to create great applications for Symbian, Maemo, and other platforms
Espoo, Finland – Nokia today released Qt 4.6, the latest version of the cross-platform application and UI framework. Featuring new platform support, powerful new graphical capabilities and support for multi-touch and gestures, Qt 4.6 makes developing advanced applications and devices easier and more enjoyable.
"Qt 4.6 marks an exciting time for developers, regardless of their target form factor or platform," said Sebastian Nyström, Vice President, Application Services and Frameworks at Nokia.
"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,"
"The community will enjoy using Qt's intuitive programming interface to quickly create powerful, appealing applications." Nyström added.
More platforms
Qt 4.6 includes support for the Symbian platform for the first time, and also adds Windows 7, Apple Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and the upcoming Maemo 6 to the list of Qt supported platforms. Also available is community support for real-time operating systems QNX and VxWorks. Support for Maemo 5 is also currently in development, with the second technology preview being released today.
Qt support for Symbian and Maemo creates the first opportunity for developers to target both of these platforms from the same codebase. Being able to share code across platforms means that the applications they create will reach the market faster and reach a broader audience of device users.
Also released today is a technology preview of new Qt APIs from the Qt Mobility project. These cross-platform APIs provide developers with functionality such as location for navigation-type devices, as well as messaging, contacts, and bearer management.
More eye candy
Qt 4.6 builds upon the graphical improvements of 4.5 and enhances them with the addition of new Animation Framework – including intuitive state machine functionality – plus new advanced graphics effects like opacity, drop shadows, glow, and filtering.
More fingers
One of the most exciting new features in Qt 4.6 is the ability to create multi-touch applications. New multi-touch and gesture based input methods such as flicking and kinetic scrolling make Qt 4.6 a powerful framework for creating dynamic, tactile ways for users to interact with applications and devices.
More horsepower
Qt 4.6 challenges the conventional development notion that advanced UI capabilities normally come with a significant performance cost. Extensive work has been done to deliver the best possible performance while enabling developers to deliver the "wow" effect that is demanded by users.
Key performance improvements come in the form of a highly optimized, re-written Qt GraphicsView rendering algorithm, a new OpenGL paint engine, WebKit, 2D vector graphic support using OpenVG, and new DirectFB support.
Updated tools
Complimenting the release of Qt 4.6 is an updated release of Qt Creator, a cross-platform IDE for Qt development. Qt Creator 1.3 and Qt 4.6 form the Qt SDK which contains everything developers need to create cross-platform applications.
To learn more about Qt 4.6, Qt Creator 1.3 and to download the packages, please visit http://qt.nokia.com/whatsnew.