Nokia said that it will “make Qt core to bringing applications to the next billion,” although it stopped short of actually stating what its plans for adding Qt support to its mass-market Series 40 handset platform are. In a presentation, Marco Argenti, Senior Vice President of Developer Experience at Nokia, said that: “we will disclose further details in due time; today we want our developers to see the opportunity that the future of Qt brings as part of our mobile phones strategy.”  The company has already begun offering tools to enable the creation of web apps for Series 40, which are being made available via its Ovi Store.

Qt was Nokia’s chosen developer path to deliver cross-platform app support across Symbian and Meego, when these platforms were on its smartphone evolution roadmap. However, with its decision to switch its focus to Microsoft’s Windows Phone, Qt became something of an evolutionary dead-end beyond Nokia’s pledge to support Symbian OS in its smartphones until it fully transitions to the Microsoft OS. By adding support for Qt to its mass market device platform, developers will be able to address a large user base, including many customers who are otherwise priced out of the smartphone market – although these same customers are already available via Nokia’s web-based tools. And with Qt not supported by Windows Phone, the company is still not offering an easy path for developers to address the entire Nokia customer base.

Nokia also announced availability of its first (and only) Meego powered smartphone, the N9, which also includes Qt support – although due to the limited lifespan of this technology in Nokia’s portfolio, it is unlikely to attract much developer support.