14 DAY TRIAL // What might become a new BlackBerry smartphone in the more or less distant future seems to have just leaked into the wild, offering us a glimpse at what RIM might soon have in store for us.
What can be seen in the images that emerged into the wild courtesy of Chinese website MaxPDA includes a full-QWERTY BlackBerry device that supposedly packs a touchscreen display as well.
The screen is larger than on other BlackBerry devices that sport physical keypads too, while the keyboard is a lot different than what current BlackBerry models sport.
All in all, there is a strong possibility that the new device indeed shows what the future BlackBerry smartphones might be all about.
According to the leak, the smartphone in question would sport the model number 9980, but no other specific details on it have been made available until now.
However, while there is a great chance that Research In Motion might consider modifying the design of its lineup, we should also take into consideration the possibility that these images are fake.
Previously, MaxPDA was a relatively credible source for similar leaks, but we should still take the newly leaked info with a grain of salt, as the guys over at N4BB note in a recent article.
The keyboard on the handset that can be seen in the photo to the left is different from any other BlackBerry smartphone, and it does not seem that appealing, especially not for those who are already accustomed with the BlackBerry QWERTY on Bold or Curve handsets.
Supposedly, this new BlackBerry device would run under the next flavor of RIM's mobile OS, one that is based on QNX.
The first handset to arrive on shelves with that platform on board was said to be the Blackberry Colt, and there is the possibility that the just-leaked device might be a prototype for this future RIM superphone.
RIM already confirmed that it was working on QNX-based smartphones, and that a working prototype existed in their labs a few months ago, but we should wait for more info on this to emerge before saying for sure that this device is the real deal.