RIM wants a piece of the mobile ad pie

Just last week, RIM and AT&T launched the BlackBerry Torch, bringing the platform a bit more into the 21st century with some much-needed advancements like a proper touchscreen and a WebKit browser, just to name a couple.

Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported that RIM is also in talks with some mobile advertising companies to make an even bigger attempt at keeping up with the iOS and Android Joneses.

RIM chiefs have reportedly been courting Baltimore-based Millenial Media, but to no avail so far. See, Millenial CEO Paul Palmieri is no fool, and he's been paying attention to how AdMob and Quattro have fared in the last year or so. If you'll remember, Google scooped up AdMob for a cool $750 million late last year, and then Apple turned around and spent $275 million on Quattro this past January.

Palmieri has purportedly asked for between $400 and $500 million from RIM, which the Canadian manufacturer promptly balked at and refused to pay.

RIM will no doubt need a mobile ad provider, and it will ultimately have to come to terms with the going rate for these guys nowadays. If nothing else, respect Millenial Media for having a decent sense of self-worth, unlike Quattro who sold to Apple after the Google/AdMob deal for barely a third of the cost.