A new image purporting to be the BlackBerry ‘London’ smartphone has leaked onto the web and shows a device that appears radically different from the last rumoured image.

The ‘London’ is expected to be the first BlackBerry smartphone running the QNX-based BlackBerry 10 OS, which RIM hopes will revive the beleaguered company’s fortunes.

Soft edged

CrackBerry notes that the phone looks far more like the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet than previously suggested, owing to its rounded corners and all-black design. The last leaked image showed a device with rough, diagonal edges and a silver metallic design, although it did have a user interface that was similar to the PlayBook. Also of interest is the omission of a physical keypad.

Rumours suggest that the ‘London’ is geared towards the UK, with two other models, Laguna and Lisbon, aimed at the US market.

The ‘London’ is believed to have a dual core 1.5GHz processor, an eight megapixel rear-facing camera. It will apparently also support applications developed for the PlayBook.

Last week, a reported BlackBerry roadmap found its way onto the internet and appeared to suggest the existence of a number of new products as well as a possible delay to the London, although little information was revealed.

Reports suggesting that BlackBerry 10 OS devices would be delayed have persisted and analysts have said that the first device running the operating system would be delayed until at least late 2012. This would mean RIM would be reliant on the stop-gap BlackBerry 7 OS, further harming RIM’s chances of recovery following a disastrous 2011, which saw its market share tumble and a worldwide service outage.

RIM’s problems finally caught up with co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie who stepped down earlier this month in favour of Thorsten Heins as part of a management shakeup.