Rumors Concerning BlackBerry 10

Research in Motion (RIM) is set to launch the latest incarnation of the BlackBerry smartphone. It is rumored that two new models will be announced tomorrow – the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry X10.

The BlackBerry Z10 is rumored to come with 4.2-inch HD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The smartphone is also said to include 2GB of RAM, 4G LTE connectivity, 16GB of internal storage and an 1,800-mAh removable battery.

This will be a touchscreen-only model.

The second new smartphone has been given the code name N-Series It is expected to be called BlackBerry X10, a model that will have a full QWERTY keyboard. Rumored specs from earlier reports include a 720 x 720-pixel display with a pixel density of 330 ppi and integrated NFC.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them close to each other.

Both new models with have NFC capabilities.

When BlackBerry devices first hit the market in 1999, they were programmed in C++ and ran on a single AA battery. By 2001, RIM launched its first BlackBerry device that actually also made phone calls. This device was the BlackBerry 5810 and had an operating system written entirely in Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME).

It was much easier at the time to find programmers who knew Java, so it helped the ecosystem grow.

Now in 2013, the word is that when BlackBerry 10 launches tomorrow, the operating system to power the devices will be the QNX Neutrino Real Time Operating System (RTOS). This OS was originally developed by Canadian company QNX Software System.

The company was later acquired by RIM. It is a Unix like, real-time OS.

A marketing rumor is that RIM is going to try and take full advantage of the Super Bowl. With only four days separating tomorrow’s launch and the Super Bowl, RIM will have a commercial where RIM calls BlackBerry 10 "its new mobile computing platform that will power the next generation of smartphones and tablets."

This elicits thoughts that RIM will also be developing new tablets and not just smartphones. RIM expects to reach over 100 million viewers with a 30-second commercial.

Tomorrow RIM will be hosting a major, multi-city event to finally unveil the new platform and its first devices to go along with it. It’s expected to announce carrier partnerships along with pricing. All four major carriers in the U.S. have already pledged to support the new platform once it is available.

The rumor at this time is that pricing for the new devices will be lower than the usual $199 price that most high-end smartphones start at. It’s believed that the price with a two year contract could be as low as $149.

It will be interesting to see how much of this will be true tomorrow and how much was just speculation. We will be there to cover the event in New York City. In the meantime, you can see some of the earlier leaked photos (it seems that RIM is very good at accidentally leaking information) and more ideas of what BlackBerry 10 will be by checking out some of our articles at TechZone360 and World News.