BlackBerry (RIM)

RIM possibly releasing touchscreen early 2008

Yesterday was a busy day for the rumor mill on the upcoming Balckberry releases. GMP Securities analyst Ray Sharma has supposedly seen a pair of patent schematics showing what appears to be plans for two new BlackBerry devices. In his notes he calls them “Touchscreen 1.0″ that features a touch-sensitive screen similar to the iPhone or the HTC Touch. The other upcoming device, he labeled and the “Pearl 2.0″. Very similar to the existing device with the addition of a numeric keypad that rotates 90 degrees which will offer a friendlier typing experience.

“We believe that the next two generation BlackBerry devices will offer some interesting hardware enhancements that are positioned to target two markets; the touch screen and feature phone segment of the handset market,” Mr. Sharma writes. These are expected to be released early 2008