Qt Company Expands Development Framework for Global Connected Devices

The Qt Company, which provides a cross-platform framework for companies to write applications only once and run them anywhere and on any device, has now introduced its Qt Lite Project.

This project is a major expansion of its framework that incorporates a wide range of enhancements, the company said, designed to enable developers to streamline the creation and delivery of software and devices. Qt is currently in use by millions of developers across the world and eight of the top 10 Fortune 500 companies.

Qt’s goal is to ensure that all devices can communicate over supported protocols and that software can easily be extended to the next-generation device. This concept the company calls “future proofing” and is especially important to the developing IoT.

“The number of connected devices in use nowadays is growing at an exponential rate, but there is a rather finite pool of developers able to build applications and software for these technologies,” said Andy Mulholland, VP and principal analyst, Constellation Research. “As a result, in order to keep up with consumer demand and seize the opportunity created by connected devices and the Internet of Things, developers need a platform that is able to strike a perfect balance between offering a robust set of development tools while providing a nimble and lightweight delivery model.”  

With Qt Lite, organizations and developers can build cutting-edge software and devices including in-dashboard screens for connected cars; smart medical devices; and feature-rich user interfaces (UIs) for Wi-Fi-enabled home entertainment systems.

“For the past 20 years Qt has been used on a massively wide range of operating systems and embedded devices, but we’ve seen a growing need for Qt to become a more targeted framework that will facilitate the whole development cycle and lifetime of products for embedded devices,” said Lars Knoll, CTO, The Qt Company. “By introducing Qt Lite, we’re providing our customers and partners with a lightweight and streamlined version of the Qt framework they’ve come to know and trust. As a result, they’re able to reap the benefits of a shorter and less intensive development cycle, including reduced R&D costs, faster time-to-market for new products, and the ability to dedicate valuable resources towards other strategic business initiatives.”