RIM Buys Contact Manager Gist

RIM has bought the contact management start-up Gist in a deal that was first reported by GigaOM late last year. The Seattle-based company raised approximately $11 million from investors including Foundry Group and Vulcan Capital. Through various Web plug-ins and mobile apps, Gist helps users generate a united living contact list from email, social networks and mobile phones. It’s one of those things that’s hard to describe but much loved by avid users.