BlackBerries to get WebKit-based browsers

News out of Boy Genius Report is that RIM has purchased software development company Torch Mobile, makers of the Iris mobile web browser… and little else. Between that and the official statement from Torch Mobile specifying…

“Our team of developers will join RIM’s global organization and will now be focused on utilizing our WebKit-based mobile browser expertise to contribute to the ongoing enhancement of the BlackBerry ® platform.”

“As part of RIM, these developers will continue to be active participants in the WebKit development community.”

…it’s strongly implied that RIM intends to switch their BlackBerry web browser to one that is built on WebKit. With Apple, Google, Nokia, Palm, and now RIM on board, WebKit is practically the defacto web browsing engine for mobile devices, leaving Windows Mobile/Phone as the only major smartphone OS that will not feature a WebKit-based browser, and Opera as the only major third-party browser not built on WebKit (not counting Mobile Firefox, which is still in beta). With Nokia entering the laptop market and Google entering the desktop OS market, will WebKit dominance of desktop web browsing be far behind?