Research In Motion, the makers of the BlackBerry, is probably working on new devices, according to a report.

“RIM’s biggest product news was that several BlackBerry 7 OS products would be rolling out at a ‘rapid succession’ near the end of the quarter. That includes both HSPA and CMDA-enabled devices hovering around the high-end and mid-tier product ranges,” a posting in Zdnet said.

The sales of BlackBerry phones have gone down now, and some existing BlackBerry owners have also said they’d rather switch to other smartphones. Despite what the company says, the cynics only look at things that are visible – and that is receding popularity of BlackBerry smartphones.

Its tablet, the PlayBook has sold better than expected but the shifted focus seems to taken a toll on the BlackBerry sales. The next big news, however, is the likely release of BlackBerry 7 operating system based products, such as BlackBerry Bold 9900.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is likely to be 10.5 mm thin which means it will be slimmer and sleeker than earlier BlackBerry smartphones.

It is likely to be along the lines of Bold 9000, which has 8GB memory, enhanced browsing, a built-in compass, HD video recording, fluid liquid graphics, and NFC capabilities.

The company officials said that once the devices are out in the market, users would know “the wait was worth it”. The problem for RIM, however, is that it needs its latest smartphone lineup to fire, if they don’t it would be in big trouble.

In the existing problems, apps are a significant part of the problem. Number of apps, despite what the users think, is not the problem. Whatever apps are there on the BlackBerry platform, several users say they are not intuitive or easy to use. It’s an annoying experience to just open the apps, and scroll to the particular position, let alone using them.

BlackBerry might be great for business emails, but its apps expertise leaves a lot to be desired.

Motorola has finally announced its plans to bring Xoom tablet later this month in India. Loaded with Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet operating system, the Motorola Xoom comes with a 10.1-inch widescreen display and houses a powerful Tegra 2 Processor inside it. Motorola is likely to launch the Xoom tablet in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+3G versions for India in coming two weeks.

Users would be able to enjoy multimedia and web browsing over the 10.1-inch HD display touchscreen in 16:9 aspect ratio. The tablet has dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC chip that is capable of powering the tablet and also offering 1080p HD video playback.

According to the technical specifications, the device does support 1080p HD video playback and video recording at 720p HD @ 30 FPS – thanks to the 5 megapixel camera with dual LED Flash at the back. It also has front facing 2 megapixel camera with fixed focus.

The Xoom tablet does support the Adobe Flash Player 10.2 and more updates would be made compatible in the near future. Packing 1GB RAM, which is good enough to run the Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Xoom offers approximately 32GB on-board storage. Though the tablet comes with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the update for the same – Android 3.1, is out already.

When it comes to sensors, the Xoom tablet has accelerometer, magnetometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, and barometer. Even location based services are covered with the eCompass, A-GPS and Google Maps services.

For connectivity, the Xoom tablet offers Bluetooth 2.1+EDR+HID, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and also 3G option in Wi-Fi+3G models. Considering Apple iPad 2’s popularity, it would be really surprising if there is no Wi-Fi+3G version from Motorola. Physical connectivity is powered with Micro USB 2.0 ports, HDMI 1.4 out and 3.5mm audio port.

Apple iPad 2 Wi-Fi+3G model sold like hot cakes in India in the initial days of its launch. Now we’ll have to wait and see what would be the pricing of Motorola Xoom models.

The much talked-about HTC ‘Chacha’ smartphone, which has a dedicated button for Facebook, will be launched in India next week. This will also be the first HTC bar phone with full QWERTY keypad.

On the sidelines of the launch of HTC Sensation in Delhi, Lennard Hoornik, president of South Asia Pacific, HTC, said, “We will be very aggressive in the Indian market. We will be launching our HTC Chacha smartphone and Flyer tablet next week.”

The phone’s Facebook share key enables users to swiftly upload images and videos; share music; check in; and update their status on Facebook without any glitches.

The company has already launched another Facebook phone in India. The device is a full touchscreen Android smartphone called Salsa and it has a price tag of Rs 22,000.

The HTC Chacha is expected to be priced at around Rs 15,500 and features a 2.6 inch touchscreen display with 480 x 320 pixel screen resolution, Qwerty keypad, 5 megapixel Autofocus camera with LED flash, VGA front camera, 512 MB RAM and ROM, and microSD card slot.

HTC Chacha supports a high speed HSPDA network, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, a 3.5 mm audio jack, music player, video player, G sensor, digital compass, proximity and ambient light sensor and a 1250 mAh battery.

The device is driven by Android 2.3 operating system, an 800 MHz processor, and the acclaimed HTC Sense user interface.

Another HTC device which will make its debut in India next week is the 7 inch Android tablet Flyer. It will be one of the first devices in India to feature Android 2.4 Gingerbread and a capacitive touchscreen stylus (pen-like device for writing on the touchscreen). ‘The Mobile Indian’ did a story a couple of days ago about the possible introduction of this device in India, and its launch has now been confirmed.

The tablet is already available online at Letsbuy.com for a price of Rs 37,500. Although it is more expensive than other tablets in the market, it has the features to justify its price. The only negative aspect of this tablet is the absence of Android 3.0.

The tablet has a 1.5 GHz Processor and 1 GB of RAM (very good for a tablet,) along with a 5 megapixel camera at the rear and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, as well as A- GPS support for maps. The battery has 4000 mAh capacity and delivers up to 4 hours of continuous video playback.

HTC also announced HTC Watch Service, a new connected video service that will debut with Flyer, and which enables on-demand progressive downloading of hundreds of high definition movies from major studios.

Nokia is likely to showcase its much anticipated Windows Phone 7 based smartphone, which may also boast a new operating system, during the Communic Asia 2011, the annual telecom event, in Singapore.

Although Nokia has not divulged anything about it officially, but speculations are rife after the handset maker sent invitations to journalists, saying “Join Nokia Connection to experience First-hand the new Ecosystem that will be introduced to the world”, for Nokia Connection 2011 scheduled for 21 June along sides Communic Asia 2011 in Singapore.

Stephen Elop, the chief executive officer of Nokia, will be present to officially unveil the Windows based devices along with Marko Ahtisaari, senior vice president design at Nokia, who will be talking about the design aspect of the new smartphones.

Nokia has made it clear that it is a demonstration only event and nothing other than the products’ technical specification will be discussed. Hence, even though the devices will be unveiled, Nokia will not say the actual date of its availability in the market.

Whatever the case might be, the good news is that Nokia will finally be unveiling the Windows Phone 7 based devices before the world for the first time putting an end to all the speculations and rumours that are presently flooding the market pertaining to the launch of these smartphones.