Research in Motion (RIM) has confirmed its purchase of DataViz, the company behind the Documents To Go suite of software for mobile phones.

If you have a mobile phone, like a BlackBerry, that is not based on the Windows Mobile platform, yet you find you're still able to open Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations, chances are you're using one of DataViz's applications. In fact, many devices come with Documents To Go pre-loaded on them, making it easy to view Microsoft files, as well as Adobe-based PDFs, right out of the box.

So it was a logical step for smartphone maker RIM to pick up DataViz, which is even found on the popular Apple iPhone.

Could we see Documents To Go become a BlackBerry-only technology going forward? If so, what does that mean for users of other devices who have been enjoying the services for some time now? Might we see a paid version open up for other smartphone types?

When it comes to devices like the iPad, customers are charged an additional fee to access iWork, Apple's own version of a document, spreadsheet, and slideshow presentation application. It's highly likely that we'll see Documents To Go on RIM's own rumoured tablet device. Whether it will be free, or come at a nominal fee, the ability for RIM to lock the tried and true technology into its own devices makes RIM an even fiercer competitor in both the tablet and smartphone spaces.

Further details on the acquisition have not yet been disclosed.

Article Tags:  documents, devices, dataviz, mobile, smartphone, tablet, version, based, blackberry, technology