Trolltech has enhanced its dual-licensed software stack for mobile device UIs (user interfaces), and has moved more of it to GPLv2. Qtopia 4.2.0 features new VoIP (voice-over-IP) and WiFi capabilities, while the Open Source Edition now includes everything in the commercial version except DRM (digital rights management) and telephony components, the company says.

“Qtopia” comprises a whole family of products, as shown in the diagram at right. The most fundamental component is a graphics framework and windowing toolkit called Qtopia Core (formerly “Qt/Embedded”). Qtopia Core targets single-application devices, although it has been extended by Motorola for use in multi-application Linux phones. Qtopia Core was last updated on Dec. 1, and is available now in a 4.2.2 version.

The Qtopia family also includes Qtopia Platform, which adds capabilities for multi-application devices. Qtopia Platform, in turn, forms the basis of Qtopia Profiles and Qtopia Editions, which includes a PDA Edition and a Phone Edition. Phone Edition, in turn, forms the basis of Greensuite/Greenphone, the company's software/hardware reference design.

New in Qtopia 4.2.0 is “complete VoIP and WiFi functionality,” Trolltech says. Other touted new and enhanced features include:

• Enhanced telephony components
• Better multimedia player, based on RealNetworks Helix DNA client
• Basic MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) support
• SVG (scalable vector graphics) support
• Support for second or multiple displays

Qtopia Open Source Edition

Trolltech says Qtopia Core (aka Qt/Embedded) has long been available entirely in open source. And, in the past, the Qtopia PDA Edition has been touted as being available in open source. Now, Trolltech says the 4.2.0 release marks the first time that all of Qtopia — excluding DRM and telephony components — has been available under the GPLv2.

Adam Lawson, the company's product director for mobile and embedded solutions, stated, “Qtopia Greenphone, announced earlier this year, sparked an overwhelming level of interest in the mobile device developer community. With Qtopia Open Source Edition, open source developers have yet another means to demonstrate the innovation possible on mobile phones and other mobile devices.”

Trolltech shipped Qtopia 4 in February of last year.

Availability

Qtopia 4.2.0 and Qtopia Core 4.2.2 are available now, under the GPLv2 or commercial licenses, when used in products.

 
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