RIM acquires design firm The Astonishing Tribe to work on PlayBook and smartphone UIs

While it's certainly functional, many don't think of the UI on RIM's BlackBerry devices as the prettiest around.  It seems that RIM is taking steps to change that, though, as the Waterloo-based company has up and acquired UI design firm The Astonishing Tribe, also known as TAT, for an undisclosed amount.  On the Inside BlackBerry blog, RIM says that TAT will be using their talents to help improve both the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms.  The Swedish-based TAT has worked with a number of major companies and is also responsible for helping to clean up the UI of Android back on the G1.

This news is pretty big for BlackBerry users, especially considering how well the UI of the QNX-based operating system on the PlayBook already looks.  By the time that TAT gets its hands on the OS and RIM ports it to their smartphones, well, let's just say that email and BBM may no longer be the BlackBerry's biggest features.

Via Engadget, RIM