We've just gotten a look at what might be the first-ever photo of the next iteration of BlackBerry devices (based on the upcoming BBX operating system and its QNX roots), and we wanted to share. The phone you see in the picture above is apparently dubbed the BlackBerry "London," and is said to be headed for a June 2012 release. The phone allegedly is equipped with a TI OMAP dual-core CPU clocked to 1.5GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of onboard storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter. The London is reportedly "thinner than the iPhone 4" and roughly the same size as a Galaxy S II (though our source didn't say which S II specifically). Oddly, the source says that the phone can be stood straight up on one of its sides (suggesting more boxiness than can be seen in the picture).

As you can see, the phone is running some variation of the PlayBook's operating system, though coloring and icons have definitely been tweaked. For instance, the music app icon looks more like an evolution of the note you see on the PlayBook's version (this time appearing overlaid onto an optical disc). Our source says the phone shown was a "dummy" model, so it's likely the screen is nothing more than a static image.

What's strange about the phone design is that it closely resembles RIM's Porsche Design P9981. Given the source of this image, it's possible that this is also a Porsche-designed BlackBerry destined for countries other than the US or Canada. We're told that RIM is also showing off two lower-end devices, as well as the next version of the Torch, which is said be "very thin" with a 3.7-inch display and slide-out keyboard.

Even though we did multiple passes on this image for Photoshop and / or rendering artifacts, this could ultimately be someone's hilarious idea of joke. It's also possible that this is a prototype or concept design, and won't make its way to production. Still, given the detail in the image and some of the information we were given to back it up, we believe there's truth to this story. We're pounding the pavement for more info as we type, so stay tuned for updates as we get them.

Update: BGR is now corroborating our information, saying that the so-called Colt — originally planned as the first BBX handset — was scrapped in favor of the London, and that it might not be ready until Q3 of 2012. Yikes. More on this as we get it.



