Google Inc. has just announced that it has acquired Gecko Design Inc. for an undisclosed amount, according to Bloomberg.

The Los Gatos, California-based company will be joining Google X, the research lab of Google.

Gecko is a product design and mechanical engineering company that specializes in consumer-electronic products. Its clients include Fitbit Inc., a provider of wearable devices, Herman Miller Inc., a furniture maker, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Logitech International S.A., among others.

Gecko's owner and president Jacques Gagné said that joining the Google X Lab is an incredible opportunity for Gecko and its staff. It will allow them to work with various cutting edge projects and help Google concentrate on hardware products. Gagné and four other employees of Gecko will be moving to Google X.

Google is increasing its investment in its research lab as it tries to develop new technology such as driverless cars. Google needs Gecko's product design expertise as the company seeks to expand its cutting-edge technological capability to create more commercial and consumer products.

Gecko has been the go-to company when they have the ideas but do not know how to turn them into real products that actually work. Google has ideas but the final products are sometimes clunky and ungainly, such as the original version of Google Glass.

Although he did not disclose anything further, Gagné revealed that his company had worked on a project with Google in 2013, according to Android Police.

Google liked their workmanship and it was the start of a business relationship. They had talks about taking the business relationship to another level and it started getting firmer on the idea by the start of 2014.

Gagné added that it took him a long time to decide because he's been running the company for a long time. He founded Gecko Design Inc. in 1996. 

Gecko could be a company that Google X needs. It worked with the One Laptop per Child Project to build a laptop for children that can withstand getting dropped on the ground while keeping its price at $100. It has also done work for Aliph, Sonos, and Slingbox.