Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

First Alpha of Qt For Android Released

Posted by Soulskill on from the early-option dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In the wake of Nokia's announcement that it will be cheerfully throwing its existing developer community under a bus by not offering Qt for Windows Phone, a project to implement Qt on Android has announced its initial alpha release. Necessitas project lead Bogdan Vatra writes, 'I had a dream that one day, I'll be able to deploy existing Qt software on any Android platform. I had a dream that one day, all Qt applications will use system wide shared Qt libraries. I had a dream that one day, all Qt applications once compiled and deployed to one android platform, will run on any other newer android platform and will last for years without any recompilation. I had a dream that one day, I'll be able to create, manage, compile debug and deploy Qt apps using a first class citizen IDE. Now, those dreams become reality.' The Necessitas wiki offers some documentation on Qt for Android. A demo video of Qt for Android in action is also available."

30 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Re:nips in the vid by Inner_Child · · Score: 2

    I saw nip at 1:15.

    Apparently so did someone else, the video was taken down.

    --
    Today is red jello day - all workers must eat all of their red jello. Failure to comply will result in five demerits.
  2. Re:nips in the vid by amRadioHed · · Score: 2

    That explains the youtube link now saying "This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on nudity or sexual content.
    Sorry about that."

    Who knew Qt was so sexy?

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  3. Qt ecosystem... by arunce · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, how long will take google to trash the java stuff and absorb Qt as the primary toolkit/sdk ecosystem? With or without it how will they fight the Nokia patent pool brought in court by their puppet master?

    1. Re:Qt ecosystem... by Anthony+Mouse · · Score: 2

      With or without it how will they fight the Nokia patent pool brought in court by their puppet master?

      Why go to court? If only three people use it then it's hardly worth the effort. And if everybody starts writing Android apps with Qt, great! Just do the about face and tell all those Qt developers they employ to make Qt run on WP7 and suddenly WP7 has all the Android apps. Which would benefit both Nokia and Android at the expense of iOS, because it allows developers to target both platforms at once.

    2. Re:Qt ecosystem... by chammy · · Score: 2

      Java and C#, like C++, are usually the least suited for GUI code - more expressive languages are much less aggravating for the task.

      That's why they made Qt's QML

    3. Re:Qt ecosystem... by DrXym · · Score: 2

      It would actually be in Nokia's interests to hang onto QT and spread it EVERYWHERE. If they were smart they even got MS to allow them to use it in WP7, possibly even licence it for app development. Wouldn't that be a turn up for the books?

    4. Re:Qt ecosystem... by chammy · · Score: 2

      It's more powerful than you think - have a look at this blog post. With a little QScript you can include any logic you want with no messy PyQt binding or C++ needing compilation.

  4. Re:It's too small by Anthony+Mouse · · Score: 3, Insightful

    QT isn't big enough to compete. The other juggernauts have the momentum and QT will fail. it is not because it is a bad technology - it just doesn't have the traction.

    It's a framework, not a platform. Whether or not anybody else uses it is totally irrelevant to whether you can write an app with it and have it run on any Android phone. Or anything else they port the library to.

    And if it works well and allows you to easily write portable software then plenty of people will use it, because there is no barrier (and significant advantages) to being an early adopter.

  5. Nokia is dead by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is incredible. It's hard to believe how stupid are some companies. Nokia had some awesome assets. How could they not see it?

    - You are the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones
    - You own one of the best development frameworks in the world, a framework that is 100% cross platform, and totally Unix friendly
    - The world is changing. Windows is decaying on desktops. Unix runs most servers, many desktops (combining Apple + GNU/Linux + other free Unix-like systems), and is the biggest mobile player (33% Android + 16% Apple)
    - You have an awesome linux-based mobile platform (meego).
    - Microsoft has consistently failed on the mobile market, and is irrelevant
    - Every organization that has ever partnered with microsoft has lost, big time

    So, the logical step is to throw away everything you have, ignore the market trend, and move to windows?

    What. The. Fuck.

    Partnering with Google, porting QT to Android, merging all cool meego functionality into Android, and cleaning up your product line didn't ever cross your mind, Nokia?

    But you can see their main mistake was hiring Stephen Elop. Since he left Macromedia he couldn't hold a job for more than a year. Nothing screams failure like a CEO that roams through 3 companies in 2 years. And he got to Nokia from Microsoft. Really Nokia, just WTF.

    Regardless, it doesn't seem to be the only company that doesn't get it. Most technology companies nowdays just plain don't get it. This morning I broke my samsung phone (android 1.6), so I bought a new one (Galaxy, 2.1 Eclair). It came with a shitload of crappy samsung apps, an awful theme, gmail replaced for some stupid mail app, and Yahoo as the search engine (can't be changed). I just rooted it, and installed Froyo. Looks awesome now. Why are technology companies boycotting themselves so badly lately? I just don't get it. /rant

    --
    WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
    1. Re:Nokia is dead by Xest · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Why are technology companies boycotting themselves so badly lately?"

      Same reason companies in any mature market do, it takes enthusiasts to build a new industry, but when they've got it established the business world takes it over.

      The first commercial entities in any industry sector are almost by necessity built by the engineers and scientists that create the underlying product that allows that industry to arise, but after some time when the industry is mature, the scientists and engineers become treated like a commodity and the business folk move in and run the show.

      It's really just a sign that the market is maturing, it's not about the technology anymore, it's about acquiring other companies, shifting assets around, and other tasks that maximise money generation but don't really provide anything to society.

      I really really hate Apple, but to their credit, the reason they're succeding financially is because they're focussing on products, rather than churning out mediocre crap and just relying on their $60bn cash pool to play the trading and investment game to make money. You can see the business ideology at work with Oracle, they bought Sun and are just destroying some excellent assets purely because they don't know how to monetise them whilst trying to monetise other assets to the extreme to the detriment of innovation in society (i.e. Java). You can see it with Microsoft, under Ballmer innovation and hence growth has vastly decreased than under Bill, who was a technologist. You can see it with Dell- whilst the CEO hasn't changed, his mindset has, gone from being focussed on building really good systems, to racing to the bottom by gimping their support and quality through outsourcing to maximise profits at the expense of customer confidence. You can see it with Activision, Kotick took over some really top notch innovative franchises, burns them out with multiple releases a year then cancels the franchise because he doesn't care about the games, he only cares about the money.

      Technology firm shareholders need to realise this more- that there's far more money in bringing in bosses that innovate, than there is bringing in a business minded boss who can buy and sell, and strip and and build other companies and just rearrange assets to make money. I suspect this is why Schmidt has been forced to step down - because they realise Schmidt is a businessman, whereas Google needs a technologist if it wants to keep up pace of growth and profits to more than a mediocre degree.

      When a company switches to a business oriented leadership over a leadership enthusiastic in the industry, that's when it all goes wrong.

    2. Re:Nokia is dead by dhavleak · · Score: 3, Insightful

      BS Rant! You're complaining about the fact that your brand-spanking-new android device has tons of shitware on it, and didn't come with the latest OS version. Well, that's possibly because of a race to the bottom that's eroding margins for android OEMs, which should have factored in to Nokia's decision.

      You also seem to have no regard for Nokia themselves or Nokia's customers, so why should Nokia care about your opinion (or opinions like yours). Your entire post was about Nokia doing what's good for FOSS/Linux/Qt. Nokia needs to be concerned about themselves, and about thier customers. Use the right tool for the job, and avoid re-inventing the wheel. If FOSS/Linux/Qt wins based on the needs of the hour, budget at hand, etc., so be it. You made zero (absolutely mother-fucking zero) arguments for how FOSS/Linux/Qt could help Nokia -- you just assumed FOSS/Linux/Qt superiority to be a truism and started spewing nonsense.

    3. Re:Nokia is dead by andydread · · Score: 2

      Please understand that Elop Is an X- Microsoft Executive. So Logic does not apply. Expecially when one of his jobs over at Microsoft was to convice Manufacturers to switch to Window Mobile.

  6. Re:It's too small by Luckyo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd say that the odds of world domination look slim; but I don't see why QT couldn't continue doing what it did before the Nokia acquisition(even if Nokia has no further interest, they paid good money for Trolltech, so they'd be stupid to destroy them internally, rather than spin them off again and take what they can get...)

    Nokia (or more specifically the MS guy who got into CEO position) essentially threw its entire 5 year "linux phone" development under the bus. Trolltech purchase is pennies in comparison.

  7. Re:Flagged video by tuomasb · · Score: 5, Informative

    Alternative URL from the original Google groups post:http://blip.tv/file/4790125

  8. Re:It's too small by Anthony+Mouse · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nokia (or more specifically the MS guy who got into CEO position) essentially threw its entire 5 year "linux phone" development under the bus. Trolltech purchase is pennies in comparison.

    The funny thing is they spent all the money on Meego, which still exists, and now they aren't using it. But now some other company, maybe one with a strong Intel partnership, can come along, scoop it up and run with it if they decide their existing OS is dying a slow death. Especially if the existing OS is already Linux-based and they could reuse some of their existing code. (Hello HP?)

  9. Re:Flagged video by LingNoi · · Score: 3, Informative

    Thanks for posting the link. So tired of americans obsession with nipples getting in the way of everything..

  10. Re:Video Removed by merick · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The video opens with a shot of his desktop which is photograph of a nude female torso.

    So, it was correctly flagged. Unfortunate that he started the video that way.

  11. Re:nips in the vid by Lord+Byron+II · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's just a tasteful, nude background on his desktop. Nothing that should warrant a removal by YouTube, but it's their prudish prerogative.

    For those of us who are adults and capable of seeing a female breast without going nuts, here's an alternate link to the video:

    http://blip.tv/file/4790125

  12. Long live Nokia! by kervin · · Score: 3

    Sigh...


    - You own one of the best development frameworks in the world, a framework that is 100% cross platform, and totally Unix friendly

    A lot of people would argue .Net is a much better development environment than Qt. I can't understand why someone would willingly use C++ to develop user applications ( not systems dev ) in 2011. Even Android promotes Java for this.


    - The world is changing. Windows is decaying on desktops. Unix runs most servers, many desktops (combining Apple + GNU/Linux + other free Unix-like systems), and is the biggest mobile player (33% Android + 16% Apple)

    How is windows 'decaying'? Is that your emotional way of saying that it's losing marketshare? If so, why should Nokia care?


    - You have an awesome linux-based mobile platform (meego).

    Yes, unfortunately, only nerds care about that. And in case you missed Elop's many interviews, the board was focused on delivering more than just an operating system. Microsoft brings, XBox, office productivity, Bing and many other very large franchises.


    - Microsoft has consistently failed on the mobile market, and is irrelevant

    Many of the innovative features found on Android and IPhone today came from Microsoft and RIM. They ran the market for at least a decade before they faltered. WP7 has been out for only 3 months and has already gained 1-3% ( depends on who you ask ). That's without Nokia.


    - Every organization that has ever partnered with microsoft has lost, big time

    HTC made all its money before a year or two ago from Microsoft. That tiny company would never have been able to produce its own OS. Sony did the same. Dell and HP have both grown for decades using Microsoft software.

    1. Re:Long live Nokia! by |DeN|niS · · Score: 2
      A lot of people would argue .Net is a much better development environment than Qt. I can't understand why someone would willingly use C++ to develop user applications ( not systems dev ) in 2011. Even Android promotes Java for this.

      Good for you, but I am one of those people who prefer the power of C++, and more importantly to target other platforms than Windows. Besides, with Qt, C++ isn't any harder than Java (which sucks in its verbosity, I can't stand it, see how that works with opinions?). Android is by the way fully embracing native development now, as it improves performance, reduces reliance on the controversial Java code and Oracle threats, and allows much quicker porting of existing applications (exactly the same thing that's going to hamper WP7's C#)

      Microsoft brings, XBox, office productivity, Bing and many other very large franchises.

      Bing ?????? Who cares? Xbox ? Don't give a crap wrt my phone. Office productivity, MS already have this on Symbian

      I have no doubt MS can and will produce a very smooth and nice experience, but as with Google it will lock in tightly to their own OS, their own services, etc. I highly doubt a WP phone will export itself as a generic mass storage device like Symbian can, for example, instead needing drivers which are of course only available for Windows, and probably only Windows 7 onwards at that. Email will favour Outlook/Exchange, just like Android favours gmail. IE9 will have its own quirks and deviations from the standard. What Nokia used to have was independent support of those, though none of it stellar

      .

      And of course this article is about Qt on Android, which is Nokia's strategy and investments now paying off in providing an upgrade path from Symbian - except to Android instead of their own next gen OS!

      IMHO more people prefer Qt and targetting several platforms, than using MS only tools and targetting only WP. Nokia is shooting itself in the foot by not supporting Qt on WP, which is a purely political BS decision.

    2. Re:Long live Nokia! by the_womble · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A lot of people would argue .Net is a much better development environment than Qt. I can't understand why someone would willingly use C++ to develop user applications ( not systems dev ) in 2011. Even Android promotes Java for this.

      He said one of the best, not the best. The fact is that most user applications are developed in C or C++.
      The world is changing. Windows is decaying on desktops. Unix runs most servers, many desktops (combining Apple + GNU/Linux + other free Unix-like systems), and is the biggest mobile player (33% Android + 16% Apple)

      How is windows 'decaying'? Is that your emotional way of saying that it's losing marketshare? If so, why should Nokia care?

      Nokia should care because the argument for using MS is that the customers want Windows.

      Yes, unfortunately, only nerds care about that.

      That is a failure of Nokia's development or marketing. Meego could have offered customers a lot.

      And in case you missed Elop's many interviews, the board was focused on delivering more than just an operating system. Microsoft brings, XBox, office productivity, Bing and many other very large franchises.

      SO your suggesting that we will see XBox compatible phones? Or full versions of MS Office on phones? Otherwise MS is not bringing those to Nokia.

      Many of the innovative features found on Android and IPhone today came from Microsoft and RIM.

      Name five that came from MS. RIM is not relevant to a deal with MS.

      They ran the market for at least a decade before they faltered. WP7 has been out for only 3 months and has already gained 1-3% ( depends on who you ask ). That's without Nokia.

      How much is MS's total share of the phone OS market?

      HTC made all its money before a year or two ago from Microsoft. That tiny company would never have been able to produce its own OS. Sony did the same. Dell and HP have both grown for decades using Microsoft software

      HTC benefited because they were tiny and no one else was willing to do the same deal with MS. Dell and HP in the PC market are just box builders. As for Sony, which bit of Sony are you talking about? PCs? Consoles? Something else?

    3. Re:Long live Nokia! by Daniel+Phillips · · Score: 2

      A lot of people would argue .Net is a much better development environment than Qt.

      Those people can argue whatever they want if they are willing to be wrong. For one thing, .Net is not a development environment, it is a managed code execution environment. For another, QT is not a development environment, it is a GUI support library. And most importantly, even if they were both development environments, which they are not, nobody except Microsoft needs a development environment or a library full of patent traps waiting to be sprung.

      --
      Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
  13. That is only the half of it by Magnus+Pym · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nokia is one of the few companies that has really good wireless baseband technology. In fact, their baseband phone chipsets are second only to Qualcomm's. They have lots of very good and probably very well-paid wireless engineers who do all this stuff. Mr. Steven Elop probably doesn't give a damn about baseband, if he even knows what it is. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that he will sack the entire wireless engineering division and start using chips from Qualcomm or someone else. Actually, he'll probably go for a 2nd or 3rd tier vendor for the baseband. After all, it is all about the OS and apps, right? That is all he knows.

    Within a couple of years, Nokia will be another pure OEM that simply assembles phones in China based on 100% sourced components. Mr. Elop and his Wall Street buddies will enjoy a couple of years of profit because of all the cost savings due to the sacked engineers, during which his bonus will be large enough to let a couple of generations of his family live in luxury. After that, Nokia will slide down to be part with the Chinese OEMs, and Elop will go on to rape the next company.

    1. Re:That is only the half of it by YoopDaDum · · Score: 5, Informative

      Hey, you missed part of the action it seems... A few months ago, before Elop arrived, Nokia sold its baseband division. It's now called Renesas and is an independent business. Just like every baseband vendor, they're also moving in the application processor space to provide in addition to baseband chips integrated AP+BB solutions (as Qualcomm, as ST-Ericcson, etc.).

  14. US-centric again by Kupfernigk · · Score: 2

    Um- perhaps it never occurred to him? Because, you know, a lot of Europeans wouldn't even notice.

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
  15. Re:It's too small by DrXym · · Score: 2

    QT isn't big enough to compete. The other juggernauts have the momentum and QT will fail. it is not because it is a bad technology - it just doesn't have the traction.

    I think QT has a place on Android. Think of all those useful Linux apps you'd like to see on your tablet for example. Then there are apps migrating from Nokia's platform which could find it useful.

    What I would like to see on Android is a proper alternative to the Dalvik framework. There is the NDK but it would be nice to see a proper LLVM like environment where you can write C++ code but it is turned to an intermediate bitcode and isn't tied to one platform or architecture.

  16. Microsoft doesn't have partners by Colin+Smith · · Score: 2

    They have distributors.

     

    --
    Deleted
  17. Re:nips in the vid by CODiNE · · Score: 2

    Would you feel the same about a "tasteful, nude male background"?

    Can you see a penis without "going nuts"?

    --
    Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
  18. OMG 5 seconds naked breasts by devent · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OMG 5 seconds of naked breasts. This monster who ever posted the video should be stoned to death. What if a child sees it? It will be scared for live and probably became a sexist rapist and a murderer.

    What ever is wrong with American people? Why you are so scared of nudity, shouldn't you be so proud living in "the most free country in the world" with the first amendment and so?

    --
    http://www.mueller-public.de - My site http://www.anr-institute.com/ - Advanced Natural Research Institute
  19. Re:C++ doesn't even run on WP7 by Anthony+Mouse · · Score: 2

    They don't have to rewrite Qt and make it incompatible. They just have to [get Microsoft to] allow standard C++ on WP7. Microsoft likes to make ugly language changes like that under the fig leaf type safety or whatever because they like to make it difficult to make portable Windows programs. When the situation is reversed and they're trying to get the larger number of Android apps running on WP7, portability is their friend and excuses like type safety start to look pretty thin.