Zeemote faces competition... from a Smart Ball

Mobile keypads have become a popular whipping boy for the game industry, especially since the emergence of touch 'n' tilt as a new way to control mobile games.

US firm Zeemote has taken a different approach to solving the problem of mobile game controls, with its Bluetooth joystick. But now it's got competition from Finnish firm Ball-IT.

Its Smart Ball Platform claims to offer six degrees of freedom motion control, and can be used for mobile games, as well as a mouse substitute for PCs.

The company is looking for partners to launch its squeezy ball peripheral as a mobile accessory. Like Zeemote, it'll probably need to rely on handset bundling deals to get widespread distribution.

Tech blog ArcticStartup has a video interview and demo, watch it below for an idea of how the Smart Ball works.

Juha Rytky - Ball-IT.com from ArcticStartup on Vimeo.