Images of RIM's upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system have surfaced months ahead of launch. The photos were pulled from a 14-page PDF file that looks to be from one of RIM's external ad agencies, according to Crackberry.
The photos don't show any new hardware as all of the phones in the document are BlackBerry 7 handsets but the on-screen images are all new. New for BB10 are home screen widgets similar to those found on Android and Windows Phone devices.
There's also a new icon tray with revised artwork and icons that are said to be much smarter than those found in BB7. For example, the icon for the Pictures folder shows an image from within the folder and the Clock icon displays the time of the next scheduled alarm.
Other features gathered from the photos include a universal inbox and a new caller display screen. Of note here is an icon for video chat which will make the process much easier in BB10.
All of these features will be welcomed by BlackBerry faithful but at this point, is it a case of too little, too late? None of these features are new or groundbreaking in the smartphone market - Android and iOS have included most of them for some time.
Furthermore, by the time BB10 is released, it's very likely that the bigger players will have come out with something all-new, or at least be well on their way to developing next-gen software.