Nokia disposes of Qt, sells commercial licensing and services to Digia

Nokia is quickly streamlining operations and trying to divest itself from non-core departments in light of its recent strategic deal with Microsoft for the Nokia Windows Phone.

The trade aspects of Qt, the development platform that was acquired by the Finns in 2008, are now being offloaded to a company called Digia, which will be responsible for the commercial licensing and services of Qt after the end of this month, when the deal goes through:

"Nokia will continue to invest in developing Qt as a cross-platform framework for mobile, desktop and embedded segments, focusing on open source development and expansion, we wanted a partner who can drive the commercial licensing and services business around Qt. Digia has proven, in-depth Qt expertise, operational excellence and a keen interest in growing and improving the overall Qt community and so well positioned to expand the Qt Commercial licensing and services business."

Nokia had a vision to merge the Symbian and MeeGo development on one and the same platform  - Qt - to ensure compatibility, but now that Windows Phone will be its primary development platform, it doesn't need to keep a tight grip on Qt anymore.