BlackBerry London possibly replacing Colt, moved to summer
updated 07:10 pm EST, Mon November 14, 2011
BlackBerry London rumored a Colt replacement
RIM's still unconfirmed BlackBerry London may actually be a replacement for a cancelled model, a new rumorclaimed Monday. Supposedly, BGR heard, the all-touch phone was replacing the Colt, which looked more like the BlackBerry PlayBook. Why the Colt had been dropped hadn't been given out.
The launch might also come later. Although the previous rumor had the London pegged for June, the BBX phone wouldn't ship until the third quarter. It's presumed this refers to the calendar third quarter, between July and September, and not its third fiscal quarter, which doesn't start until September. Whatever the timing, it might not arrive until later in the quarter.
An explanation for the delay also wasn't given, but the software may once again be the cause if the rumor is accurate. RIM has already delayed PlayBook 2.0 to February and has shown even less of BBX, which needs to build in PlayBook features.
RIM has usually aimed its first BBX "superphone" for early 2012, but that was also before PlayBook 2.0 was moved back. With no detailed glimpse of BBX on a phone even at BlackBerry DevCon in October, though, it's doubtful that RIM will make an early 2012 target. No other phones have been mentioned beyond the Colt and London, and it could leave RIM without a modern smartphone OS for the first half of the year.
