LinuxWorld — (press release) — Trolltech announced today the launch of Qt/Embedded, their graphical user interface (GUI) application framework and windowing system for embedded Linux.

Since the beta launch of Qt/Embedded in mid-June, the level of interest has exceeded expectations. Key players in the electronicsindustry have already committed to Qt/Embedded. Trolltech recently announced an agreement with Ericsson for using Qt/Embedded for their new Cordless ScreenPhone. A partnership with NEC on the VR 4100 series of processors has also been announced.

“Qt/Embedded is a key technology for mass market embedded Linux Solutions,” said S.P. Yoon, principal engineer for Samsung. “We look forward to the release.” Qt/Embedded is a GUI application framework directly targeting embedded systems. It provides developers of embedded applications the same power, flexibility, ease of use, and cross-platform portability as Trolltech's flagship product, Qt. Programs can be written in either Microsoft Windows or UNIX-based environments and simply recompiled into embedded devices, which allows for rapid development and faster time-to-market.

“The interest in Linux as an embedded operating system has been phenomenal, it is becoming a major player,” said Hogne Tjemsland, Qt/Embedded's product manager. “Our state-of-the-art GUI solution for embedded Linux offers manufacturers of embedded devices an outstanding application framework. Qt/Embedded offers significant memory savings and the manufacturer can access the large community of developers currently using Qt.”

At its smallest configuration, Qt/Embedded only uses 700k of ROM, and because Qt/Embedded does not use the X Window System (X11), it allows for sophisticated features like anti-aliased text and alphablended pixmaps.

“Until recently we used Qt/X11 for our development of the ScreenPhone software,” said Mickey Nasiri, director software Applications at Ericsson Mobile Communications. “Qt is a convenient tool for programmers and Trolltech has been very helpful providing training and support when needed. Changing from Qt/X11 to Qt/Embedded was a small step while Qt/Embedded makes oursystem more stable.”

Qt/Embedded will support many embedded processors running Linux, including: StrongARM, Intel x86, and NEC's popular MIPS CPUs. Trolltech is currently demonstrating Qt/Embedded at LinuxWorld 2000 in San Jose.

Related stories:
Qt/Embedded Linux GUI to support NEC VR Series CPUs
Trolltech announces beta of QT/Embedded embedded GUI
What GUI is in Ericsson's cordless screen phone?

 
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