Back in early February rumors circled that RIM (maker of the once ruling BlackBerry) was going to adopt Android. At the time we were lucky enough to have a Boston-area thought leader speak to mobile platform consolidation, which seemed imminent at the time given similar moves by Nokia and Sony.

According to an official press release from RIM yesterday, the mobile company’s tablet (PlayBook) will in fact run Android. This means hundreds of thousands of apps will be available to anyone who decides to purchase the device, as compared to more like 100 if RIM relied on its own BlackBerry app store.

From the article: “According to the company’s press release, the PlayBook will support both Java and Android apps using “app players,” which provide an “application run-time environment.” The apps will then run inside of these app players, which is little in the way of hindrance to gain access to thousands more apps than would otherwise be available. The move is a risky, but bold, move by a company that has been steadily losing ground. At the same time, it could be the risky, but bold, move that saves it from going the way of the dodo.”