RIM acquires open-source browser developer Torch Mobile

Looking to boost its users' Web browsing experience, Research in Motion Tuesday officially acquired Torch Mobile, a company that develops applications using the WebKit open source browser engine.

Torch Mobile specializes in developing mobile Web browsers, RSS readers and widget platforms. The company's flagship product is its Iris Browser that is specifically designed for mobile phones, set-top boxes and ultra-mobile PCs. Iris is available for certain Windows mobile operating systems and features touchscreen control and advanced HTML and CSS support.

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In a statement released on its Web site, Torch Mobile says that it has been acquired by RIM it will "be focused on utilizing our WebKit-based mobile browser expertise to contribute to the ongoing enhancement of the BlackBerry platform." The company also says that its developers "will continue to be active participants in the WebKit development community" now that they are working for RIM.

The Boy Genius Report initially reported news of the acquisition and said that readers should be excited about the possibility of having a WebKit-based operating system on BlackBerry devices. WebKit is best known as the browser engine used by Apple's Safari operating system. The engine has also been used by Google, Nokia and the KDE project to develop mobile applications.