BlackBerry makers Research in Motion (RIM) are buying a company called The Astonishing Tribe (or TAT). RIM CTO David Yach said the following in a statement on the BlackBerry Blog:
Today we are pleased to confirm plans for The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) team to join Research In Motion (RIM). We’re excited that the TAT team will be joining RIM and bringing their talent to the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms.
For those who don’t know, TAT is renowned for their innovative mobile user interface (UI) designs and has a long history of working with mobile and embedded technology. TAT focuses on delivering great user experiences, from a design, technology, and usability perspective. Their design technology is used today in a variety of industries including the consumer electronics and automotive sectors.
According to a promotional video (which a suggest checking out below), TAT’s technology powers over 470 million devices in over 15% of all new phones in 2010 and 20% of all touch phones. It also powers DTVs, STBs, car clusters and tablets.
TAT’s Paul Blomdahl says on the company’s blog:
We’ve always been passionate about great user experiences and the interaction between people and devices. Our software and concepts are used in hundreds of millions of mobile devices, cars and consumer electronics products.
Today we’re very excited as we are announcing that we’re taking a huge leap towards our vision to help create a full user experience for a great line of devices and products.
He also assures customers that TAT will honor current agreements and services moving forward.
Neither RIM nor TAT has not disclosed the amount of money it is paying for TAT.