Nokia has released Version 4.6 of its Qt cross-platform application and UI framework. Qt 4.6 includes support for the Symbian platform for the first time, and adds Windows 7, Apple Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and the upcoming Maemo 6 to the list of Qt-supported platforms. Also available is community support for real-time operating systems QNX and VxWorks.

Qt 4.6 also provides support for creating multi-touch and gesture-based applications via new input methods such as flicking and kinetic scrolling. Other key performance improvements include an optimized, re-written Qt GraphicsView rendering algorithm, a new OpenGL paint engine, WebKit, 2D vector graphic support using OpenVG, and DirectFB support.

Qt 4.6 enhances the graphical capabilities of 4.5 with the addition of new Animation Framework -- including intuitive state machine functionality -- plus new graphics effects like opacity, drop shadows, glow, and filtering. Complimenting the release of Qt 4.6 is an updated release of Qt Creator, a cross-platform IDE for Qt development.

In a related announcement, Nokia released a technology preview of new Qt APIs from the Qt Mobility project. These cross-platform APIs provide developers with functionality such as location for navigation-type devices, as well as messaging, contacts, and bearer management.