BlackBerry 9000 series: spy shots appear

Another year, another few hundred important gadgets - and this may be the first to be spied for 2008.

What we're seeing here is a (former) eBay auction where the seller claims to have an unofficial, unconfirmed BlackBerry 9000 series smartphone. We know that this device is coming soon, but whether or not these pictures are legit is unconfirmed.

Engadget discovered that the pictures came from the BlackBerry forums, but they were swiped from an eBay auction, that has now been pulled off the eBay site. Apparently, the 9000 has no touchscreen, and seniors at RIM BlackBerry are in talks about whether touchscreen devices are the future, leaving employees guessing.

The forum poster also claims that 3G is in the works at RIM, as is HTML email. These two important additions could very well coincide with, and be part of, the release of this so-far non-existent 9000 series.

However: do not treat this as official, or true. It's a rumour, and that's all.

[via Engadget; Pocket-Lint]

Links: Pocket-Lint.co.uk's report
The very source of the rumour, at BlackBerry forums