Troubled joystick maker is troubled no more.
Last month, Bluetooth joystick maker Zeemote closed down and put its assets up for sale. Now that sale has been confirmed: but not to one of the obvious handset manufacturer candidates.
Japanese firm Aplix Corporation has acquired the US firm's assets in an all-cash transaction. Aplix is best known for its JBlend Java platform, which is embedded in more than 110 million mobile phones a year.
Zeemote will operate as a separate subsidiary of Aplix from its Massachusetts base, with VP of business development Jim Adams and CTO Rob Podoloff remaining in their posts.
Aplix says it will embed Zeemote's software in JBlend, increasing at a stroke its global penetration - in theory making the sale of standalone Zeemote joysticks a more commercially appealing prospect.
"Functional control of the mobile device and its applications is a huge opportunity as the sophistication and capability of devices increases exponentially," says Aplix CEO Ryu Koriyama.
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"With the acquisition of Zeemote we are in a unique position to take a lead in the supply of both content and peripherals which will significantly improve the end-user experience."
Earlier this year, Aplix signed a separate partnership with Japanese mobile games developer G-Mode.
