First peek: BlackBerry 6.0 to go touchscreen?

Paul Nesbitt

The next generation BlackBerry smartphones will feature a radically overhauled OS, offering iPhone-style touchscreen controls, and colourful widget icons.

Screenshots purporting to be of the forthcoming released of Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS (version 6.0) have been posted on the BlackBerry Leaks site.

The screenshots look very different from the BlackBerry OS look and feel used in today's handsets. Large colourful icons for apps providing ESPN sports news, weather forecasts, news and traffic news are combined with a large digital clock and icons for email and calendar events.

The screenshots suggest that Research In Motion will more aggressively target the consumer market, with the next generation BlackBerry devices, which currently dominate the smartphone market for corporate customers.

Any development of a touchscreen interface is sure to rouse the ire of Apple, which is currently in two legal battles with HTC and Nokia, over allegations that the two companies have infringed on iPhone user interface technologies.

Research In Motion has not given any official launch date for BlackBerry 6.0, nor did it confirm or deny the veracity of the leaked screenshots.