AMSTERDAM, Holland – Kicking off the Maemo Summit in Amsterdam this morning came news that developers have been waiting for – the Qt port for Maemo 5. This means developers can now create applications using Qt and easily deploy them across Symbian, Maemo and if they see fit, Windows Mobile devices, amongst other platforms (including desktops). This is a huge boon for the incoming Nokia N900 as it could see a flurry of apps being ported straight across to Maemo. These will join the already plentiful apps and widgets ready to run on Maemo 5.

Sebastian Nyström, Vice President of Application Services and Frameworks at Nokia said

“With this announcement and our upcoming port of Qt to the Symbian platform, we will quickly see Qt established as a leading framework for mobile application development. Developers will be able to use Qt as a framework to create powerful native applications and with Qt’s Webkit integration, it also provides them with a platform for creating web applications and services. Qt’s support for Maemo 5, Maemo 6, Symbian, as well as Windows Mobile makes Qt the most sensible choice for developers looking to target multiple devices and achieve the broadest reach with their innovations.”

With the introduction of Linux-based devices such as the N900, and an already strong lineup (and growing) of S60-based devices, the need for a single mobile application development framework is ever increasing. Making it easier for developers to deploy across multiple platforms should see a steady increase in new applications, beyond what we’re already seeing.

Bridging the gap between devices and applications isn’t easy, but it’s crucial if more people are to benefit from a wider range of applications. Enabling developers to deploy on a wider range of devices ensures they get just reward for their efforts, whilst users benefit from much wider choice.

The lucky numbers who turned out for the Maemo Summit also got their hands on pre-release N900s which they’re going to be taking away to play with. We haven’t had ours yet (though we’re expecting to get it on Monday) though the Conversations boss man has been keeping it warm for us for a little whilst now. Can’t think why he’s been slow to hand it over!

The video below shows off some Qt 4.6 examples running on an N900-based prototype. We’re not sure what it means, or how it works, but it does look pretty impressive!