Atlanta startup Movl says it’s been acquired by Samsung Electronics for an undisclosed sum. Just two years old, Movl began by creating games that interacted with TV — like “We Draw,” which won Samsung’s top developer award in 2011. Then the startup created a platform for iOS and Android developers to seamlessly integrate their apps with smart TVs, starting with Samsung and Google TV — with more on the way.
Movl’s progress captured the attention of Samsung, which is hard at work at bridging content and interaction between devices. “We are now a part of Samsung Electronics, and we are excited to combine our multi-screen capabilities with Samsung’s scale and innovation in its device ecosystem,” Movl said in a statement.
Smart TV apps — other than the staples like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go and a few other video apps — haven’t caught on as well as many CE manufacturers have hoped. Viewers gravitate toward remote controls for controlling video, but they prefer mobile devices for other kinds of interaction. By bridging mobile devices with the big screen, Samsung and Movl are betting on a new frontier of two-screen interaction.