Motorola steers clear of Trolltech after Nokia acquires it

After Nokia announced plans to acquire open source technology maker Trolltech earlier in the week, Motorola ended the week by showing its support for open source technology, while also stating how it will shift away from Trolltech technologies.

Motorola began its relationship with open source five years ago, after releasing the A760 phone with Trolltech's Qt technology in 2003, and has shipped millions of Linux-based devices.

Motorola is one of five other mobile phone makers who helped launched the LiMo Foundation, an organization attempting to create "the first truly open, hardware-independent, Linux-based operating system for mobile devices." Along with co-development among software makers, open source technology allows users to upgrade a cell phone's native applications.

But Motorola appears now to want to shift away from using Trolltech's Qt technology, which allows software developers to create and update GUIs for mobile phones. The MotoDev Studio currently implements Qt, but Motorola will now be forced to shift towards its own implementation or ask the open source community for assistance.

Nokia's move into the open mobile software space is its first serious project in the sector, though other phone manufacturers and software makers have taken a higher level if interest. Phone manufacturers are able to use open technology for traditional consumer handsets for most users, and smart phones used for mobile business.