Digia to acquire Qt from Nokia

After first buying the commercial rights to Nokia’s Qt (pronounced “cute”) developer platform back in March 2011, Finnish software firm Digia now reveals that it has signed an agreement to acquire all of Nokia’s Qt software technologies along with the entire Qt business.

Qt enables developers to create an application only once and then deploy it across a host of operating systems that includes Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. In terms of mobility, Qt supports Nokia’s Symbian and MeeGo.

Following the acquisition Digia will become responsible for all the Qt activities formerly carried out by Nokia, such as product development and open source licensing. Digia aims to enhance Qt’s research and development capabilities and expand this development platform’s reach to many more mobile operating systems beyond Symbian and MeeGo.

The company plans on quickly enabling Qt on Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows 8.

As part of this transaction, some 125 Qt staff will be transferred from the Espoo-based cellphone giant’s facilities in Oslo and Berlin to Digia, which is based in Helsinki. Digia stated that this transfer will significantly enhance its product business, whilst also falling in line with its strategic objective to expand its international operations footprint.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the Qt team to Digia. By adding this world class organisation to our existing team we plan to build the next generation leading cross-platform development environment,” explained Tommi Laitinen, SVP for international products, Digia.

“Now is a good time for everyone to revisit their perception of Qt. Digia’s targeted R&D investments will bring back focus on Qt’s desktop and embedded platform support, while widening the support for mobile operating systems,” Laitinen concluded.

In related news, Nokia reportedly plans on revising its mobile strategy for Windows Phone 8 in a bid to grab more smartphone market share away from competitors such as Samsung and Apple.