Last great hope? First pics of next-gen BlackBerry 10 smartphone

Is this RIM's new BlackBerry phone? (LAPTOP/Crackberry)

Want to glimpse the future of BlackBerry?

Today, CrackBerry posted a leaked presentation slide that features the first look at a smartphone running the BlackBerry 10 operating system, an upcoming RIM platform that has been no-show, all-tell for months now.

With RIM’s drastic loss of market share in North America and the corporation’s fresh shifts of power, the beleaguered company could use a round of positive buzz. If something were to deliver such a feat, it’s London, the code-named device pictured in the leaked document. And it could be RIM's last great hope.

Though the BlackBerry-maker teased London and other upcoming phones in a roadmap presentation earlier this month, concrete details remain scarce. But CrackBerry learned the phone is undergoing tests with a 1.5-GHz dual-core TI OMAP 5 processor. The site also surmises the phone could be sold through carriers with CDMA networks. That would make London a vehicle for Verizon or Sprint here in the U.S., but it is expected the phone will see the light of day in the U.K. before rising over our shores.

Until then, we can only appreciate what’s teased in the leak. For instance, the all-touch interface that eschews the BlackBerry keyboard in favor of something reminiscent of modern devices from Android, Apple, and Windows Phone.

Also the back- and front-facing cameras, and an interface that anchors some navigation to the bottom of the touchscreen. If we made $10,000 gentleman’s bets, we’d also wager that the edges, top, and bottom of London will feature a soft-touch, rubber material, but it’s much too early to gamble.

In a fit of mistaken identity, London’s geography was thought to be revealed in a separate leak last year. While that phone was capped at the top and bottom with a steel-ish material and wore sharply tappered edges, today’s feature has more rounded curves and an all black outfit.

BlackBerry has asked the real London to please stand up on September 2012, so we’ll have to wait to learn more about the true premier BlackBerry 10 phone.

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