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Stephen Wellman
 

BlackBerry 9000 Details And Image Leaked

Details and specs of the much-anticipated, touch screen iPhone killer, the BlackBerry 9000, have supposedly been leaked. Let's take a look.

Details and specs of the much-anticipated, touch screen iPhone killer, the BlackBerry 9000, have supposedly been leaked. Let's take a look.Rumors about the BlackBerry 9000 broke last month. My colleague, Eric Zeman, detailed what we knew at the time. Now Boy Genius Report claims it has the goods:


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This is just what's known at this point, although these details have yet to be confirmed as final specifications. The BlackBerry 9100 will sport a screen with the dimensions of 480 x 320 (or maybe that's 320 x 480), 1 Gbyte of on-board memory, and an Intel XScale PXA270 processor at 624MHz, clocking in slightly faster than the 620MHz ARM 1173 processor found in the iPhone. The BlackBerry 9000 will sport the dual-threat of GPS and WiFi as well as introducing 3G support (multiband HSDPA) to the GSM carrier family devices, answering the prayers of many of us. At this point in time, there's no update to the camera, which remains at 2 megapixels, although we're hearing there is the possibility of seeing a 3.2 megapixel camera at launch.

If this rumor is true, the 9000 would represent a significant upgrade of the line of BlackBerry smartphones. With built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G, and 1 Gbyte of memory, this device would truly outshine most smartphones on the market, including the current iPhone.

Of course, no one knows how the BlackBerry OS will accommodate a touch screen interface. Will RIM have to upgrade the OS and the applications to support a touch screen? Will the 9000 actually have a touch screen? Unfortunately, there are no more details on this front:

No features, both software and hardware, that are currently enabled in OS 4.3 and above will be missing from the 9000-series family. This doesn't rule out a major change in direction for the BlackBerry OS, as there is a strong possibility that what we'll see in the future will either be completely different, or at least it will look the part of a distant -- but more intelligent and handsome -- cousin.

And what about the famous BlackBerry Qwerty keyboard? There is no visible keyboard in this picture, which BGR posts as a speculative image of the device. Does this mean that RIM will copy Apple and use a virtual keyboard? Or will the 9000 be a slider like the Helio Ocean?

What do you think? Are these the legitimate specs of the BlackBerry 9000? Would you buy this smartphone? And does it look cooler than the iPhone?


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