Research In Motion will use Microsoft's Bing search engine and maps as default options on its new BlackBerry devices. The announcecement was made on Tuesday at RIM's annual Blackberry World. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced on stage a new alliance between Microsoft and RIM, outlining how the two companies can work together to help people make better decisions with Bing on BlackBerry devices.

Central to this collaboration, , Blackberry devices will use Bing as the preferred search provider in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices presented to mobile operators, both in the United States and internationally. Also, effective today Bing will be the preferred search and maps applications with regular, featured placement and promotion in the BlackBerry App World carousel.

Bing will be "deeply integrated at the BlackBerry operating system level" on RIM's new smartphones, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said.

Bing is also now shipping as the default search and map app, for the newly released BlackBerry Playbook.

"Devices are becoming sensors that can provide real-time access to information to help people quickly complete tasks on the go, said Matt Dahlin, Director Bing. "We're going to see a convergence of search, commerce, social and location-centric services where Bing will provide the intelligence and the organizing layer in the cloud that connects a user?s intent with action, helping people be more productive."

Microsoft claims that Bing is about fast decisions, "combining the topical graph with your social graph- as well as the geospatial graph - to connect the real world and the digital universe like never before."