Exclusive: BlackBerry 10 Hardware Ahead of Schedule; RIM Gave it New Color

Although RIM will still be announcing the first BlackBerry 10 device sometime in August, the release date may be sooner than the October release we previously heard. We’ve confirmed with one of our sources that the first BlackBerry 10 slate device’s hardware has been fully manufactured. There will be no more revisions and that Qualcomm LTE chipset RIM was waiting for has been nicely built into the device. Therefore, we’ve learned the first BlackBerry 10 phone might make it to release in the first half of September.

The BlackBerry 10 slate will have “a color never before seen on a BlackBerry”. The BlackBerry PlayBook was the first BlackBerry device to shy away from the usual all-black with chrome detail when first launched. It was first thought, from the leaked slides of BlackBerry 10 device, that it too would resemble the rubberized matte black color of the PlayBook. However, we’ve learned it will sport its own unique color at launch. And who knows, perhaps we’ll even see RIM release other color variations too.

Know what else is really cool? The first BlackBerry 10 device with a physical keyboard, codenamed ‘BlackBerry Nevada’, has also reached final production phase. This means the BlackBerry 10 Bold is just waiting to be touched and drooled over by consumers. However, what’s holding up these two devices from releasing is the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

While at the BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour event in NYC, we learned that some aspects of the BlackBerry 10 operating system were not live demos, but an emulated version wrapped as an app. So while the hardware may be ready to go, RIM is still working to add the finishing touches to the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Additionally, it was told to us that what the world has seen thus far of BlackBerry 10 is only scratching the surface of all the features planned in its final release.

Source : N4BB