New Blackberry Details Leaked! (Rumours?)

As you will remember from our stories on the Top Smartphones feature, Blackberry are a big player in the smartphone world, and have a pretty strong line-up with the Bold and Storm (as well as many of the older models like the Curve and Pearl). So the recent leaks on three new additions to RIM’s 9000-series have drawn quite a lot of attention, and look quite interesting.

What we know is confined to three codenames and a variety of specifications for each; unfortunately we have no idea what they will look like or when they will be released. The three phones are codenamed ‘Onyx’, ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Magnum’, all of which are pretty generic and give away very little as to what they will be like.

“Driftwood”

So let’s start with Driftwood (for no reason other than it is first alphabetically). It will be a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device that will have GPS, a camera (we don’t know how good this will be), Wi-Fi with UMA (something that the current Blackberrys don’t offer) and a QWERTY keyboard.

“Magnum”

Secondly there’s the Magnum which again is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device that will also have GPS and a Camera. Whilst it will have Wi-Fi, it won’t have UMA support, but will have a QWERTY keyboard and a 480×360 resolution screen; it also has a confirmed carrier in the US in the shape of AT&T.

“Onyx”

Interestingly the Onyx has exactly the same basic specifications as the Magnum (including the same carrier) which has led many to suggest that one will have touchscreen capabilities as well as a QWERTY keyboard (maybe even one that slides out) whilst the other will rely purely on the keyboard and track-ball (like the Bold).

The Rumours & Theories

Another theory that has been put forward is that the Driftwood will be the same phone as either the Magnum or Onyx but just offering UMA for the carriers (like T-mobile) that support it, and this would make commercial sense for RIM as it will appeal to carriers that do and don’t offer UMA support, but really we don’t know as there is very little to go on.

Other news relating to RIM includes the suggestion that they are intending to refresh the Bold (right) by rereleasing it with the capacity for UMA, and although this could mean that they will add some new features given the success of the Bold that is unlikely.

The last set of rumours surrounds the older handsets: apparently Blackberry is going to refresh the Curve line-up, and maybe even the Pearl line-up as well, to ensure that the cover the whole spectrum of the market by offering some low cost handsets.

This is all very exciting despite the fact that it is mostly rumours, and I imagine many people will be looking forward to seeing what RIM are going to do. Hopefully the Onyx, Magnum and Driftwood will add something new, and RIM will enhance their range of phones by re-doing the previous ones which will give us something to talk about if nothing else!

Via – BoyGeniusReport

Related Pages:

1. Blackberry Bold 9000 Review
2. 3rd Generation iPhone Rumours Roundup
3. Blackberry Storm 9500 Review
4. 3rd Generation iPhone Rumours – QWERTY Keyboard?
5. Third Generation iPhone Specification Rumours – OLED Display with 17th July Release Date?

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