It was built with Qt framework for C++, the framework that Nokia is pushing for their devices. I have to say that I’m amazed of how well this framework is supported, at least on the Maemo operating system. I found it very well structured and easy, and above all, it’s widely adopted framework to build reliable cross-platform apps.

As it’s part of Qontacts full suite, this version is also licensed under the open source license GPL version 3. You can find the whole source code on Github.

Qontacts List of Supported Platforms

With the recent support of Maemo, here is the list of Qontacts’s supported platforms.

1. iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch)
2. Android
3. BlackBerry
4. Java ME (Nokia Series 40, S60, Sony Ericsson)
5. Windows Mobile (through JavaFX)
6. Maemo (Nokia N900)

How To Download and Install for Maemo

I have uploaded the app on the Extras-devel repository of Maemo.org. To be able to download and install it, you can follow these simple steps.

First, you need to make sure that you have updated your Maemo software, to the latest software release, which at the time of this writing, is PR 1.2 (V10.2010.19-1). You need to add and enable a new application catalog, which is the Maemo extras-devel.

1. Go to Application manager –> Application catalogs –> New
2. Fill the following information to enable the Maemo extras-devel catalog
   1. Catalog name: Maemo Extras-devel
   2. Web address: http://repository.maemo.org/extras-devel/
   3. Distribution: fremantle
   4. Components: free non-free
3. Once the new catalog refreshes, go to Download -> Utilities. Start typing qontacts, and you will find it there. Just click on it to install it.

Final Words

I would like to thank my friend Hichem Zait, for his testing and feedback for the Maemo version.

I hope Qontacts was useful, and served its purpose. If you used it, please share with me your comments, and thoughts, I would love to hear them out. Finally, as a friend of mine once said, enjoy your updated Qontacts.

Qontacts is a mobile application, that can update your address book contacts, stored on your handset, to the new Qatari numbering plan, in a fast and easy way. I’ve already introduced the pre-release version last week, and it was very well received by the public, and I was very happy that it did. Here are some of what the media was writing about it:

1. Qatari developer’s number updating software, a major hit
2. شاب قطري يصمم برنامجاً لتعديل الأرقام المحفوظة على الهاتف الجوال

Qontacts Behind the Scenes

This project has been in the making for 4 months, ever since ictQATAR’s announcement. I’m really proud that it is going public for free, that is free as in “free speech”, and free as in “free water”.

I’ve spent so much time, and money, developing it, from buying all sorts of mobile handsets to test on, to getting certified from RIM, and Apple, in order to develop and publish apps on their platforms. However, I was very glad to do it, because I knew that this kind of application will be very important to the Qatari community, and I wanted to help my country, even if that meant to sacrifice, at least I knew the community will find it useful.

I wanted Qontacts to be free for everybody, not just for people who belong to one mobile operator, and not the rest. That made me lose offers, and probably my current job, but I think I’ve made the right choice.

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank everybody who participated in Qontacts development, either by testing it, and giving me comments and suggestions, or by giving me the moral support I really needed. These people are:

1. Tariq Alsada
2. Hassan Albader
3. Ahmad Mustafa Noor
4. Ammar Fakhoury
5. Josh Weiner

Finally, I hope that you will find Qontacts useful, and if you did, you can consider donating to help me continue developing such useful applications.