LEAK: BLACKBERRY LONDON

The Verge posted a picture of a new Blackberry device codenamed London. According to sources close to RIM this is a real product that will be rolling out in Q3 of 2012. The London is rumored to be replacing the Colt, which was to be the first QNX based device from RIM. It has been said that RIM is having problems getting BBM and BES working on the new BBX devices, which is what is holding up the launch of London.

RIM ANNOUNCES NEW BLACKBERRY SOFTWARE

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled a new operating system Tuesday in hopes of grabbing some attention away from the iPhone and Android phones. The new BBX system combines existing BlackBerry elements with RIM's previously announced QNX operating system for phones and tablet computers.

RIM said BBX will incorporate the reliability and security features of QNX -- which RIM snagged in 2010 by purchasing QNX Software Systems. It will also enable software developers to create more advanced, dynamic apps for the devices.

The Canadian company gave few details about the software and did not say when devices using it would be available. The company previously said that it would offer phones running QNX software in 2012.

RIM ANNOUNCES QNX BASED COLT 'SUPERPHONE'

RIM has announced the first phone based on the QNX OS. The Blackberry Colt is seen as the tarnished phone companies hail mary back to a position of influence. The Colt is part of RIM's line of Blackberry 7 devices and will launch in the first quarter of 2012, but in order to make that date, some compromises will have to be made.

RIM has announced that the Colt will launch without Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) support, which effectively means this is not an enterprise level phone, but is squarely targeted at the consumer market. One of the reasons for not support BES is that RIM is still writing the QNX code for integration into BES and some believe RIM will eventually release a QNX-specific BES to work alongside the regular BES.

RIM'S PLAYBOOK 2 CANCELLED FOR QNX SMARTPHONE

Sources have reported RIM was working on a 10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook 2 that the company hoped to launch in time for the holidays this year. Now, according to a report from BlackBerry enthusiast blog N4BB, those plans have been canceled. The blog claims that RIM decided to pull the large-form tablet and instead focus as much effort as possible on building and releasing its first QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphone. Specs of the purported next-generation BlackBerry smartphone include a single-core 1.2GHz processor — though it may be swapped for a dual-core if RIM can find a way to reduce the drain on the battery — along with a 4.3-inch high-resolution touchscreen display. Further details surrounding the device were not made available, nor was a codename, launch name or a time frame for the device’s release.

ADOBE FLASH KILLING BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK BATTERY

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu recently wrote RIM's new Blackberry Playbook might only have the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy tablet at best, and that is with some major re-engineering. What is killing the battery life of the Playbook? According to Wu it's Adobe Flash. "From our understanding, the poor battery life of early PlayBook units may be due to its incorporation of Adobe Flash," Wu wrote. "As seen in recent tests for the new MacBook Air, use of Flash can cut battery life in half. It should be no surprise to anyone that our checks indicate Adobe is furiously working on reducing Flash's consumption of resources to make it a viable mobile platform vs. HTML5 that both Apple and Google are moving toward." What's clear, Wu wrote, is that the PlayBook is unlikely to reach the iPad's 10-hour battery life. "We would be very surprised if PlayBook matches anywhere near the battery life of the iPad at 10 hours unless it uses a larger battery," he said.

The PlayBook is based on QNX, which "wasn't originally designed for low-powered mobile environments but rather devices plugged into a wall socket (like network equipment) or a car battery (like automobile control systems and stereos)," Wu wrote. "At the end of the day, we are glad RIM is working hard on improving battery life as it will be good for both customers and shareholders."

RIM has responded to battery life concerns and issued a statement saying it's "on track with its schedule to optimize the BlackBerry PlayBook's battery life and looks forward to providing customers with a professional grade tablet that offers superior performance with comparable battery life."