Blackberry slider phone rumoured to be due next week

EXCITEMENT IS REACHING FEVER PITCH with speculation that Research in Motion (RIM) is about to launch an Iphone and Android-killer Blackberry handset.

Information has already been leaked to the web regarding RIM's next device, identified as the Blackberry 9800 or Blackberry Torch. However these could be codenames rather than the name it'll be flogged with. Sources including Reuters have indicated that RIM might launch the smartphone as early as next week.

The phone is expected to be the first Crackberry to ship with Blackberry OS 6, the latest update to RIM's software platform, which features multi-touch controls, better integration with social networks and a revamped browser, all of which were demonstrated at the firm's WES 2010 event in April.

The device is said to feature a large touchscreen for gesture inputs as well as a slide-out Qwerty keyboard to support the Blackberry's traditional market of corporate email users.

Photos supposedly showing the device have revealed styling similar to current models, with a touchpad flanked by phone keys underneath the screen. The keyboard slides down from under the screen and looks almost identical to that of the Blackberry 9700.

RIM declined to answer queries about future products, but indicated to The INQUIRER that an announcement of some kind is due in the near future. µ