GigaOM is reporting that Research In Motion might hire YOU i Labs, an Ontario-based design firm that has worked with a number of Taiwan-based mobile phone makers. Initial reports suggested that RIM would buy the company but it turns out that the “two companies are rumored to be working together.” Could this work involve bringing the QNX interface to the BlackBerry smartphones?
YOU i Labs is itself rumoured to be in the process of acquiring Teknision, another Canadian firm, which helped develop the RIM Playbook UI.
RIM acquired The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a Swedish software firm that specializes in user interface design for mobile devices, last fall. It’s not clear if and how YOU i Labs would end up working with the TAT team.
You i Labs has denied that there are active discussions currently taking place with RIM.