[Qt-interest] Qt for the iPad?

[Jason H]

Thiago, Qt is LGPL. What's the business case for that?

The battle for OSs is being fought by the hardware companies and the users are the ones losing out. Meemo might be able to compete with Android, but as a US developer, I need iPhone and Adroid targets. The device manufacturers (i.e. HTC) are shipping multiple OSs, resulting in app fragmentation (Win Mobi 7, Android). Clearly the hardware vendors don't care. I want to choose Qt as my development platform. If we can get Qt on the iPhone/iPad and/or Android then you've got something. (Android doesn't allow native code execution for apps, just libs -- maybe the Jambi could be brought back?) Right now it looks like Adobe AIR is the way to go with a rumored iReverse app that is the same yet runs on all platforms... (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/adobe-air-developer-demonstration-one-game-five-platforms-all/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fengadget+%28Engadget%29) 


It seems to me that if Qt wants to be everywhere, that would include the Apple and Android portable devices as well. However I could also see if Nokia wants to keep Apple portable devices at arms-length. If Qt was everywhere, it would only mean a level playing field with device hardware/cell service being the only battle ground. The trolls et. al. are every capable of making the software superior to the iPhone offerings, and doing so more openly.

If Qt was to be everywhere, Nokia could also offer incentives if you submit to Ovi before iPhone's or Android's app stores. 

There are a lot of iPhone people out there (like me) that would love to replace the iPhone because of the draconian approval process, Apple's apps with better ones (which you cannot replace by the license) But as things go, Qt is not a first choice because 1) Can't target Apple phones (yet?) and 2) Android is the next largest competitor in terms of supported hardware. The US market is the market to target though Nokia dominates world-wide (by a *huge* margin)

Nokia by large has the largest market share, some 51%. Gartner expects Symbian to remain #1, Android to be #2, and iPhone to be #3 by 2012. All others will go down - BlackBerry and WinCE (But what about Win Mobile 7?) . I expect hardware from Samsung or HTC to really take off, but they do so on Android.

We need a safe harbor! I'm hoping that is Qt!

But I have to admit, I am somewhat confused because I am in the US market, where Nokia does not rule.  But I know how best to target for the US-market, so the numbers are misleading.Qt for iPhone or Android would be the best for me right now. I don't know what do to... If I could target Nokia and one other os (iPhone/Android) it would be enough that I'd go with whatever Nokia supported. Though, being a C++ programmer, I'd prefer iPhone.


----- Original Message ----
From: Thiago Macieira <thiago at kde.org>
To: qt-interest at trolltech.com
Sent: Mon, April 5, 2010 3:39:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Qt-interest] Qt for the iPad?

Em Segunda-feira 5. Abril 2010, às 18.23.44, John M Coggi escreveu:
> Apple's "authoritarian control" applies only to the developer's app, not 
> to the Qt framework.  The burden of producing an "acceptable" app rests 
> solely on us as developers.  Port the framework and let us worry about the 
> app!
> 
> Bottom line - Porting Qt to the iPad/iPhone is a win-win situation for 
> developers, end-users, Nokia, and Apple.  Please tell us it's a matter of 
> "when", not "if".

You forgot one detail: cost.

To port, one must devote people to the task, which means money. Can you show 
me the business case that would explain why any company (not just Nokia) 
should invest in porting Qt to that particular platform?

PS: this is not an official position in any way. It's just a reality-check.
-- 
Thiago Macieira - thiago (AT) macieira.info - thiago (AT) kde.org
  Senior Product Manager - Nokia, Qt Development Frameworks
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