Nokia to buy software developer Trolltech for $153M
Nokia has offered to buy
Trolltech, the Norwegian
developer of a widely used application framework, for 844 million Norwegian
kroner (US$153 million) in cash. Nokia hopes the Trolltech development team
will give its own software efforts a boost.
Trolltech develops Qtopia, a framework used to build user interfaces for mobile
and embedded devices, and Qt, a cross-platform application development framework.
Nokia hopes to use Trolltech's expertise to improve the interfaces on its S40
mobile phone and S60 smartphone platforms, but Trolltech targets many software
platforms with its application frameworks.
In 2006, Samsung unveiled a reference design for a mobile phone running Qtopia
Phone Edition on top of a Linux operating system. And the Trolltech team has
been working since late 2006 on a version of Qt for Microsoft's Windows CE and
Windows Mobile platforms.
Qt is also used in a variety of widely used desktop software, including Skype's
Internet telephony application, the Google Earth satellite photo browser, and
Adobe Photoshop Album, now part of the Photoshop Elements image editor, according
to Trolltech.
The framework is available under commercial and open-source licenses: it is
also used by the developers of KDE, a desktop environment for Linux operating
systems. Trolltech recently updated the licensing conditions for Qt, making
the code available under the GPLv3 license in addition to the GPLv2 license
it already uses.
The Trolltech team will become part of Nokia's research and development group,
where it plans to continue its work with the developers of KDE.
Despite the close relationship Nokia will now have with the developers of KDE,
the company will continue to use a rival software platform in its Linux-based
N800 and N810 mobile Internet devices.
"Our platform for Internet tablets will continue to be based on the Gnome
environment," said Kai Öistämö, Nokia's executive vice president
for devices.
However, Nokia will use Qt in its S40 and S60 platforms, Öistämö
said. He would not say when phones containing the code will reach the market.
Nokia has pledged to continue offering commercial and open source licenses
for Qt and other Trolltech products as it continues their future development.
The two companies expect to complete the acquisition in the second quarter.
The deal requires the approval of holders of 90 percent of Trolltech's shares.
Nokia already has support from the holders of 66 percent of the shares, it said.
IDG News Service
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