BlackBerry 6 touch interface unveiled

Canadian device manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) has been showing off the next generation of its BlackBerry operating system, following the crowd with lots of touch screen interaction and consumer driven social features.

At the WES 2010 conference taking place in Florida this week, RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis demonstrated the BlackBerry 6 platform in all its touchy-swipey glory.

The forthcoming interface has lots of familiar features including multiple desktops, enhanced multimedia capabilities – music, movies and images – as well as a virtual keyboard, although Lazaridis said RIM is still focused on making devices with a hard keyboard.

The OS will feature a browser based on Webkit, and RIM will welcome widget development for the platform, further opening BlackBerry up for developers. The firm is also making much of social media, streaming communications into a single social feed.

The new platform is expected to be available on the first BlackBerry devices in the summer.

Also at the conference, RIM introduced voice over wifi (VoWifi) calling capabilities with BlackBerry Mobile Voice System 5, which works in conjunction with Cisco Unified Communications Manager to give users a single phone number for their office landline and their BlackBerry mobile, while keeping calling costs down.

BlackBerry MVS 5 is expected to be available later this year.

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