Nokia Buys Software House, Trolltech

Nokia has announced that it is buying mobile applications developer, Trolltech for US$153 million. Trolltech specializes in creating development platforms which mobile application developers can use to write their software programs. The company also developed an application platform and UI for Linux-based mobile phones, which has recently been ported to also work on Windows Mobile and CE based devices.

With Trolltech, Nokia and third party developers will be able to develop applications that work in the Internet, across Nokia's device portfolio and on PCs. Nokia's software strategy for devices is based on cross-platform development environments, layers of software that run across operating systems, enabling the development of applications across the Nokia device range.

"The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the Internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space," said Kai Ãâ€"istämö, Executive Vice President, Devices, Nokia. "Trolltech's deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40."

Nokia aims to continue the development of Trolltech's products and support of new and existing customers, and also plans to continue to license Trolltech technology under both commercial and open source licenses.

China's ZTE recently announced that it was using Trolltech's Qtopia Phone Edition in its U980 smartphone.

Posted to the site on 28th January 2008