BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) announced that it has acquired Gist. 

Gist provides information about contacts, by creating a business profile for each one that includes recent news, status updates, and work details. It works by pulling contacts from various inboxes, address books, social networks, and other sources, then adding news, status updates, blog posts, etc.

"Gist removes the noise from individual email alerts, eliminates the hassle of going to multiple services to get news and updates about contacts, and automates the delivery and presentation of the most important information about the contacts in your professional network," the company says. "By spanning the most on-line contact and content sources, Gist users are better informed with insights and actionable information about clients, prospects, and contacts."

"We’re excited that the Gist team is joining RIM and bringing their expertise in providing customers with a contextualized, streamlined, and consolidated view of information about their contacts to the BlackBerry platform," said Alan Brenner, SVP, BlackBerry Platform at RIM.

"We are extremely excited about our future at RIM and how Gist will be used by millions of BlackBerry users around the globe," said Gist VP of Marketing, Robert Pease. "This is a huge step towards our goal of utilizing the web-based Gist experience to allow users to build stronger professional relationships."

Financial details of the deal were not revealed.