BlackBerry OS 6: A preview (images)

One of the key factors in revamping OS 6 is giving the tired BlackBerry home screen a makeover. RIM says the home screen is the most used area of the phone, so it's only fitting the company spent quite some time customizing the interface with new views and interactivity while still maintaining that familiar BlackBerry look and feel.

Here is an example of how users can customize their home screens by adding favorite shortcut icons of contacts and applications.

One of the biggest changes to the home screen is the introduction of five separate views. You can switch between them by swiping the navigation bar (either via touch or trackpad, depending on your BlackBerry). The views are separated into "Frequent" (where your most frequently used apps are), "Favorites," "Media," "Downloads," and "All."

An example of the "Media" view, which houses all media-related apps.

RIM is also introducing two new "quick access areas" to the home screen. One is accessed by tapping on the status bar, highlighted in blue here. This leads to a pull-down list of connections, alarms, and options screens.

This is the quick view of connections, alarms, and options that you can access by tapping on the very top of the home screen. This way, you can easily toggle your options on and off without having to dig through the phone's menu.

The other "quick access view" leads to your most recent messages. You access this by tapping on the notifications bar. Recent messages include everything from e-mail and text messages to Facebook and Twitter notifications. The notifications bar also lets you know about new voicemail, upcoming appointments, and more.

Finally, BlackBerry OS 6 introduces universal search, which will let you search through the content on your BlackBerry, as well as the Web. If the device can't find the content on the phone itself, it'll let you choose whether you're searching for the keyword on YouTube, Google, BlackBerry App World, or other sources.