BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has reportedly acquired most of the DataViz team. CrackBerry.com broke the news, which was confirmed by John Paczkowski at Digital Daily. DataViz is known for developing Documents to Go.

Research in Motion (RIM) announced its latest smartphone today, the BlackBerry Curve 3G. The plan for the device appears to be to win over non-smartphone users.

Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb reports that Sean Parker (of Napster and Facebook fame) announced from Techonomy that he’s working with ChatRoulette. This is particularly interesting, as TechCrunch reported in June that Shawn Fanning (also of Napster fame) was advising Chatroulette.

The NPD Group has released a new smartphone report, finding that Motorola and HTC have driven Android to the lead in the U.S. Android is installed on one in three smartphones sold, according to the group.

Meanwhile, for the first time since 2007, RIM has slid to the number 2 position, as Android took the lead.

While Android accounted for 33% of all smartphones purchased in Q2, RIM accounted for 28%. Apple came in third at 22% with the launch of the iPhone 4.

Today, Research in Motion (RIM) and AT&T launched the BlackBerry Torch, the first smartphone to feature the new BlackBerry 6, which was also unleashed today.

Groupon may be working a little too well for some businesses. As Mark D. Carlson and Emily Fredrix explore in an article, some local shops around the country are struggling to handle the customer loads that deals from Groupon are bringing in.

BBC News reports that two Gulf states have announced bans on some BlackBerry functions based on security concerns. The United Arab Emirates will block sending emails, accessing the Internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets, while Saudi Arabia will prevent the use of Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging.

Everybody’s scrambling to get their iPad competitors out. Most recently, we heard what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had to say about his comany’s plans. Research in Motion (RIM) will apparently have its iPad competitor out in a few short months.

Google announced today that it has launched an enhancement for the Google Voice mobile app on Android and BlackBerry devices. The tweak is designed to make placing calls quicker. The feature itself is called "Direct Access Numbers."

Research in Motion (RIM) has unveiled a new security application for BlackBerry called BlackBerry Protect. The product allows users to wirelessly backup, restore, and locate their BlackBerry smartphones.

BlackBerry Protect comes equipped with remote device wipe, remote device lock, a "lost and found" screen, the ability to locate the device on a map, remote activation of the loud ringer.

Today, Consumer Reports called it "official". The iPhone 4 has reception problems. The organization says it reached the conclusion after testing three iPhone 4s purchased from separate retailers, in a controlled environment.

When announcing its acquisition of RedLaser one week ago, eBay noted that a purchase is made every two seconds using eBay’s mobile apps.  Only now, as impressive as that frequency is, the delay between purchases may decrease, since the eBay application for BlackBerry has become available in six more countries.

Fox Mobile has introduced the U.S. launch of Bitbop, a wireless entertainment subscription services that allows smartphone users to view full-length television shows on demand.

The service offers high-quality video and subscribers can choose from a selection of programming from a number of content partners. Full-length movies will be available later this year.

Twitter just announced that RIM has launched its official BlackBerry Twitter app. The two companies have worked closely together to create it.

Here’s what it looks like:

Features include:

Google introduced a new version of Google Maps for BlackBerry devices today. There are quite a few significant features that come along with it.

BlackBerry devices are, more than any other phones, associated with the business world.  And LinkedIn is, in most English-speaking markets, the dominant professional network.  It makes a great deal of sense, then, that LinkedIn has at last released LinkedIn for BlackBerry v1.0.

Amazon.com has launched "Kindle for BlackBerry," a new free application that can be downloaded from the retailer’s website.

Kindle for BlackBerry offers access to over 420,000 books and is available on variety of BlackBerry devices. Kindle for BlackBerry allows users to save and synch bookmarks on their Kindle devices, iPhone, iPod touch, PC and BlackBerry. Amazon said it has plans to do the same for Mac and iPad soon.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas, Research in Motion (RIM) unveiled a new device called the BlackBerry Presenter, which is a way for users to wirelessly present Microsoft PowerPoint, PDF, and other image files right from their BlackBerry smartphone. Pretty cool.

PayPal has launched a new "Send Money" app for BlackBerry. It is now available for free via the BlackBerry App World.

"Have you ever gone to lunch with friends and forgotten your wallet, but remembered your BlackBerry? Well you longer have to be the friend who is constantly borrowing cash," says Eric Duprat from the PayPal Mobile team.

The app lets users quickly send money to people around the world – anyone in their contact list.

Walmart has introduced yet another holiday promotion, this time the retailer is offering a $100 gift card with the purchase of any Blackberry device, both in stores and online.

Staring Saturday, November 14 at 8 am through November 20, shoppers will receive a $100 Walmart Gift Card with the purchase of Blackberry devices with a two-year contract.

Do you have a TiVo DVR hooked up in your living room? Do you have a BlackBerry? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you’ll probably be interested in this new app. TiVo and RIM, the BlackBerry maker, have unveiled a free app that will allow people to control their TiVos from their BlackBerry.