It would seem that Research In Motion (RIM) has gone on a bit of a shopping spree lately. In the past few years, RIM has purchased Dash Navigation – a navigation company, Torch Mobile – mobile browser experts, The Astonishing Tribe – a group of UI developers, and Gist – a popular social contact service. Today, we can add Tungle to the cart. That’s right; RIM just acquired the young meeting scheduling service for an undisclosed amount.

Interestingly (albeit unsurprisingly) these acquisitions should combine to serve to drastically improve RIM’s position in the smartphone market. It used to be that BlackBerries were the go-to devices for mobile productivity. Today, BlackBerries are lagging behind the smartphone giants that are Google and Apple. In fact, a recent Nielson report indicates that of those planning on purchasing a new smartphone, only 11% are thinking about picking up a new BlackBerry. In order for RIM to stay relevant in today’s market, they need to innovate.

Lately, RIM seems to be innovating by acquisition – and that’s ok. As long as they are able to integrate all the new technology they are purchasing into a coherent user experience, RIM is poised for a chance to re-take the smartphone industry by storm (no pun intended)!