Google acquires Green Throttle Games, a former Bluetooth controller maker

With smartphone makers eyeing the living room, technology companies that are working on products that make it easier to control smart interfaces on large screens are getting picked up by Apple and Google.

A report from Pando Daily on Tuesday says that the recently closed Green Throttle Games' assets and two of the company's three co-founders have been hired by Google.

Green Throttle Games had launched in 2012, as a partnership between Charles Huang of Red Octane (the original creators of Guitar Hero) and Karl Townsend, who worked on the first Palm Pilot.

The company launched an Android Arena app which would pair a game controller to your phone and let you play Android games on the big screen, but it wasn't a big success and closed down four months ago.

The concept might well have been ahead of its time, as the mobile hardware required to power games that can (even in a limited sense) compete with a modern console is only just appearing now. With the hardware to support more complex games, this kind of a solution might find more traction now. Earlier reports suggested that Samsung was considering the company for acquisition in October.

The details of the Green Throttle Games acquisition have not been made public, but according to the report, sources close to the situation say that the acquisition is related to Google working on its set-top box TV.

This is a space Apple has been paying a lot of attention to as well, and aside from investments in content, it also acquired PrimeSense in November, which developed the sensors that Microsoft used for its voice and motion based Kinect technology.

As we earlier speculated, this, and an increased focus on gaming, suggests a growing focus on the television as well.

With the acquisition of Green Throttle Gaming, Google is making it clear that they're not going to sit back and watch either.