RIM BUYS THE ASTONISHING TRIBE FOR UI HELP

RIM, the parent company of Blackberry, has acquired UI design company The Astonishing Tribe, better known as TAT.  TAT specializes in interface design for mobile devices, but their designs are also used in the automotive industry. Most recently TAT designed the Android OS UI as well concepts that may be used in future builds of the Android mobile system.  The TAT website describes them as:

We create the best performing, most astonishingly beautiful user interfaces for any screen and any device. We do this using awesome design, optimized technology, and constant experimentation with emerging technologies and paradigms.

RIM will use TAT to help make its forthcoming Playbook user friendly and also differentiate it from the Android and iPhone devices. [Engadget]