RIM is expected to release or at least show the first BlackBerry 10 operating system based smartphone later this year. While the company is still finalising the design, the development work on the apps for the operating system has commenced. A user named Trippin posted images of the BlackBerry 10 Alpha Developer device at the CrackBerry Forums.
The first images of the BlackBerry 10 Alpha Developer device is basically a special or testing model. That means it is meant only for the software developers to create, load and test their applications on it.
BlackBerry 10 Alpha Developer device looks like squeezed PlayBook tablet without any home button. Otherwise, the construction and appearance of the device is very close to that of PlayBook.
Not to forget that this is merely an Alpha Development testing device and not a commercial unit. The design of an actual BlackBerry 10 OS based device will be quite different from this developer device. However, one thing worth pondering is whether RIM will add a physical home button on it. Most Android based smartphones have shifted to capacitive buttons for the home and menu buttons.
RIM is expected to show first BlackBerry 10 based device in the fourth quarter of this year but there is no date or month specified.