CrackBerry has learned that Research In Motion will unveil the next version of its BlackBerry OS as BlackBerry 7 at next week’s BlackBerry World. A number of leaks (including specs for the BlackBerry Torch 2 and BlackBerry Touch) over the past few months had suggested that it would be called BlackBerry 6.1 but RIM has apparently had a change of heart.
What triggered the decision (assuming it’s true) is unclear. CrackBerry suggests that it could be that BlackBerry 7 will not be backwards compatible and that a full new version number makes that a bit clearer. There is also the possibility that references to a “lite” version of BlackBerry 6.1 will be dropped and that this version will be known solely as BlackBerry 6.1 (and offered as an upgrade to current BlackBerry 6 devices).
In the past, BlackBerry 7 had been rumoured to be the OS that merged the traditional BlackBerry OS with QNX for both PlayBooks and BlackBerry smartphones. That honour could now fall to BlackBerry 8 instead.