Nokia sells Qt LICENCING and services business to Digia to work together and grow community.

In another WTF moment for Nokia fans after reading the email title and Engadget article of Nokia selling Qt licensing to Digia (another Finnish company whose software products we’ve discussed here now and again) as a logical progression of Nokia’s alignment with Windows Phone. Glancing at it, it seems Nokia is giving up and selling Qt. The hugely powerful solution to fragmentation (amongst other things) by allowing cross platform apps between Symbian, MeeGo and other platforms that can run Qt.

Things aren’t exactly so dire if you take a look at the Qt Blog:

http://blog.qt.nokia.com/2011/03/07/nokia-and-digia-working-together/

…defense & aerospace, or the need to provide product warranties & indemnities such as in the medical device industry….these professional services are not core business activities for Nokia, so since the introduction of the LGPL license for Qt in 2009 we have been actively working to grow the number of companies providing Qt services. In 2010 we began the search for a company we could work with to serve the commercial licensees in the Qt community. We have now concluded that search and chosen to work with Digia. As a consequence, Digia will acquire the Qt Commercial software licensing and professional services business from Nokia, with the transaction expected to close by the end of March 2011.

Or All About MeeGo

http://www.allaboutmeego.com/news/item/12651_Digia_to_acquire_commercial_li.php

Nokia remains the driving force behind Qt and it’s core development and will continue to provide Qt through the LGPL license.

Sebastian Nyström, Vice President, Head of MeeGo, Qt and Webkit at Nokia:

“Qt continues to be an important technology for Nokia and it is critical that Qt’s growth and success can continue. While Nokia will continue to invest in developing Qt as a cross-platform framework for mobile, desktop and embedded segments, focusing on open source development and expansion, we wanted a partner who can drive the commercial licensing and services business around Qt. Digia has proven, in-depth Qt expertise, operational excellence and a keen interest in growing and improving the overall Qt community and so well positioned to expand the Qt Commercial licensing and services business.”

Harri Paani, Senior Vice President from Digia:

“We are excited to extend our Qt business to serve our new customers. Building on our in-depth Qt expertise and experience from demanding mission critical solutions, we will offer world-class commercial licensing and support services to Qt Commercial customers. We also look forward to driving further the evolution of Qt by bringing in new features and services.”

Thanks Joshua and Jani for the tip!

See Digia:

http://www.digia.com/C2256FEF0043E9C1/0/405002251

Category: MeeGo, Nokia