RIM’s 2011 BlackBerry plan leaked

In yet another BlackBerry-themed leak, slides showing RIM’s 2011 roadmap have been released on the internet, revealing info and release dates for a number of upcoming handsets.

The biggest news from the slides, obtained by website Crackberry, is the detailing of an as-yet-unleaked BlackBerry device called the Curve Touch.

The handset features a 3.2 inch touchscreen, 5Mp camera and NFC touch-payment technology. It’s scheduled for release around August/September in the US.

The slides also tell us that the previously leaked BlackBerry Dakota is scheduled to release in August in the US, and will be the ‘thinnest BlackBerry ever’.

The BlackBerry Curve Apollo, also already leaked, is now known to incorporate NFC and is earmarked for an August-September US release.

Some details on the next version of RIM’s BlackBerry operating system have also been revealed. BlackBerry OS 6.1 will include NFC support (which makes sense given the above specs), tools to aid augmented reality apps, ‘tighter social networking integration’ and the ability to turn your BlackBerry into a mobile wi-fi hotspot (a feature enjoyed by some Android users for some time now).

So, good times ahead for BlackBerry fans, but RIM really needs to tighten its security – by next week we’ll probably know what the CEO’s having for lunch.