Trolltech Sells Out of Qtopia Greenphones, Migrates Community to New Platform — Trolltech
Trolltech has sold its entire stock of its Qtopia Greenphones and will not commission the manufacture of any more. While it will continue to support existing Greenphone customers, it recommends the Neo1973 from FIC (see earlier entry) and OpenMoko to new Qtopia Phone Edition developers.
Trolltech today announced that it was making available a limited number of Qtopia Greenphones available to open-source developers under a grant scheme, with a complementary Qtopia SDK. Developers who wish to participate should describe the application they wish to develop for the Greenphone, and will be selected "based on the described application’s functionality, practical uses and originality". Applications should be made through the Developer Zone; the scheme closes on 7th August, or when all the devices have been allocated.
Trolltech today announced a new development contest, involving developing an app for its Qtopia Phone Edition platform. Entries are accepted in five categories (best original app, best improvement to a QPE app, best end to end service, best user interface experience and "Best in the Impossible to Classify Category"). 25 Greenphones are to be given away in phase one; the two winners of phase two are to win US$5,000, professional QPE licences, and air fare to the Munich or LA Trolltech Developer Days. The project website, with rules and application forms, is here. The phase one registration and submission deadline is 29th July this year. Qt desktop developers are reminded that the Qt Centre Programming Contest is still open until the end of May.
Trolltech has announced that licensing problems with the open-source software shipped with the Qtopia Greenphone have now been resolved, and the devices are now shipping. The delay has been used to apply updates and bug-fixes, which Trolltech says mean that they are higher quality than they would otherwise have been. The device itself costs US$695 (plus shipping, handling and taxes); commercial development licences cost at least $195 extra (see pricing page here).
Linux.com | Trolltech's Greenphone: A reasonable first effort
Linux.com reviews the Trolltech Qtopia Greenphone, a mobile phone produced by Trolltech for Qtopia Phone Edition developers. There is a Flickr library of screenshots of the development software and photos of the device itself. The reviewer emphasises that this is a developer's device and is not really a useful mobile phone (especially at the price); there are "annoying quirks" such as a badly-designed rocker button and the device requires recharging every other day, which takes 12 hours and makes the device gets hot. Then again, Trolltech never marketed this device as a consumer mobile phone; the intention was obviously to facilitate application development. (See also some OSNews discussion.)
Trolltech has announced that its Greenphone, a mobile phone for Qtopia Phone Edition developers, is now available as part of the software development kit. Prices start from US$695 for the Community and Professional versions (for the latter, the user must purchase a Qtopia License on top); there is an apparently all-inclusive version, the "Greenphone Software Development Kit Light", for $890 (prices exclude tax, shipping and handling). Those interested should contact Trolltech at sales@trolltech.com. Trolltech has also announced that the device will use an Intel PXA27X (ARM type) processor, and corporate support comes from OpenWave (mobile browser and MIDAS "experience engine"), Innovo (WAP/HTML browser and messaging system), Real (media player), BeepScience (DRM) and Opera (web browser).
Trolltech is to launch a mobile phone specifically for Qtopia phone edition software development. Greenphone is to be part of a Qtopia Software Developer Kit and will have its application software "opened" for development purposes, according to the press release. The phone is not intended as a commercial mobile phone. The device is presented by Trolltech here, with pictures and specifications.