Six BlackBerry 10 devices on the way, two in tests now
The first phones sporting RIM's new BlackBerry OS are in the testing phase now, ahead of a 2013 launch.
Six BlackBerry 10 devices are on the way, aimed at the high, middle and entry-level markets, RIM has revealed to Pocket-lint.
The site says it's seen two of the devices that'll launch along with the new OS in early 2013, though RIM put the kibosh on it taking any snaps. Neither phone is named, but they're likely the BlackBerry London and Nevada that have previously leaked.
One of the devices is touchscreen-only (the London, most probably), while the other sports a Qwerty keyboard (the Nevada) like the BlackBerry Bold 9900. We'd heard previously that RIM would launch BB10 touchscreen-only devices first. It handed out touchscreen Dev Alpha units to developers at its BlackBerry World conference in May, too.
So what are the handsets like? The touchscreen device apparently has a screen resolution of 1,280x720 pixels, while the Qwerty has 720x720 pixels. Both handsets are finalised, too, and are now in the testing phase with RIM and operators. The new phones are expected to launch with BB10 early next year.
Both are "characteristically BlackBerry", according to Pocket-lint, with a similar design ethos to the current range. More info is promised at BlackBerry Jam Americas in San Jose at the end of the month.
RIM has a lot riding on BB10. It's already been delayed twice, and following the train crash that was the BlackBerry PlayBook, and the disastrous BBM outage last year, it really needs to do something special to win back its fans. Its roadmap leaked recently, too. As well as BB10 handsets, it'll launch a tablet named Blackforest in the third quarter of next year, which'll most probably have a 10-inch screen and 128GB storage.
Are you eager to get your hands on BB10? Can it bring RIM back from the brink? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.