RIM rumored to be testing new touchscreen phone, tablet

RIM rumored to be testing new touchscreen phone, tablet

Ars Technica

Apparently feeling the heat from Apple and Android, RIM may have a new touchscreen phone in the works. According to Wall Street Journal's usual "people familiar" with the matter, the smartphone maker's new touchscreen phone will have a slide-out keyboard—an unusual break from the typical BlackBerry silhouette.
On top of the rumored new smartphone, RIM is also supposedly testing a new tablet-like device "to serve as a larger-screen companion to its BlackBerry phone." Like the BlackBerry (and the iPad 3G), the rumored tablet is expected to connect to cellular networks for data and may be available toward the end of 2010.

The phone is expected run a new version of BlackBerry OS (presumably 6.0, which the company demoed in April of this year) that "works much like an iPhone." The OS is intended to bolster BlackBerry's appeal to consumers, focusing largely on Web browsing (as opposed to its strong, business-oriented e-mail experience). There will also be a new music player and photo viewer, both designed with touchscreen support. Indeed, it appears that RIM is shaping BlackBerry OS 6.0 to feel more like iOS and Android, rather than what RIM has traditionally offered in the past. BlackBerry OS 6.0 is expected to hit the streets in the third quarter of 2010.

As for the rumored new devices, RIM did not respond to our request for comment by publication time. A spokesperson told the WSJ that the company doesn't comment on rumors or speculation.