Research In Motion (RIM) has acquired a Swedish design firm known for cutting-edge mobile projects to improve upon its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and smartphone lineup.

The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a company well-known to mobile veterans for slick user interfaces and innovative mobile concepts, was one of the original creatives behind the first Android OS. The company regularly posts free Android apps on its website; most recently, an interactive wallpaper.

"Today we are pleased to confirm plans for The Astonishing Tribe team to join Research In Motion," wrote RIM CTO David Yach in a blog post. "We're excited that the TAT team will be joining RIM and bringing their talent to the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms."

RIM may also put TAT to work on bringing the PlayBook's QNX operating system to upcoming smartphones.

Although TAT software and designs are in 20 percent of all touch phones shipped out in 2010, according to the company, it is revered in the mobile industry for concepts which have yet to see the light of day: stretchable screens, a 3D eye-tracking UI, a stereoscopic mobile screen, a tracking device for hitchhikers to find "safe" rides. It's safe to say its acquisition by RIM, notorious for clunky user interfaces and insipid designs, is the company's strongest bid against Apple.

"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," TAT wrote in a blog post. "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."