Mobile World Cat

RIM acquires Mobile Torch for an undisclosed sum and announced ambitious plans for web browsing from your devices with the addition of full versions of Flash and Silverlight.

Torch Mobile are the creators of Iris, an open source browser based on WebKit and adapted for mobile devices, which works with the philosophy of providing users of the mobile web experience as close as possible to that obtained when they are ahead of a computer.

Although BlackBerry browsers tend to be less visible in the access statistics for many pages, its market share had been falling since the advent of devices like the iPhone or the Android based clearly offering better web browsing experience . With the acquisition, expected to lead to new products throughout 2010, Webkit becomes the platform of choice for Safari, Chrome, and iPhone mobile browsers, the mobile Chrome, Palm Pre and Nokia's S60 platform, which now joins BlackBerry. Coupled with the increasing penetration of Firefox and the Mozilla Foundation plans with their mobile version, Fennec, it seems clear that the future lies browsers every day in the field of open source. Furthermore, the acquisition marks a much-needed boost for BlackBerry as a platform in high demand by users, focusing on that aspect more clearly separated from other smartphone users: the BlackBerry's browser-based Mango has improved markedly from the placing on the market of the 9000 series, but still not up to the terminal browsers like the iPhone or the Android-based. The acquisition is undoubtedly good news for BlackBerry users.

The evolution of the mobile market appears to be increasingly seen as losers to Windows Mobile-based devices: in fact, Iris was so far the browser used by Windows Mobile, but a spokesman for Torch Mobile, Georges Staikos, announced that following the the company's acquisition by RIM, development for Windows Mobile and Windows CE will not continue.