Fill it to the RIM -- With Fail

It’s not exactly the 3,000 layoffs due in a couple weeks, but this item might have more far-reaching consequences:

Hampus Jakobsson, user interface guru and founder of The Astonishing Tribe, announced on Tuesday that he has left Research In Motion (RIMM) to pursue other projects. RIM acquired TAT in late 2010 and BlackBerry fans grew giddy at the possibility of modern UI designs hitting their beloved smartphones. Nothing of note ever came to BlackBerry 7, but from what we’ve seen of BlackBerry 10 thus far, TAT’s influence is clearly present. Jakobsson apparently had no interest in seeing his hard work hit the market, though, as the executive has confirmed on Twitter that he left RIM.

The BlackBerry 10 OS is already months behind schedule, and won’t be ready in time for the all-important Q4 shopping season. Any further delay is just another nail in RIM’s coffin.