Well that was fast. RIM won't even be officially unveiling its first BlackBerry 10 handset until January 30, but even so, Rogers announced yesterday that they're already allowing subscribers to reserve the latest BlackBerry smartphone.

In a press release, Rogers' VP of Marketing John Boynton said: "Building on our history of innovative firsts, we are excited to offer our customers the opportunity to be among the first in the world to reserve their BlackBerry 10 device." Evidently so.

The question is whether Rogers subscribers will be equally excited to place their bets on a device they've never seen and for which there is no available pricing or specs. We don't know much about the device itself except that the L-Series promises to be BlackBerry's first all-touch device.

After leaked photos and video, graphic artists have been rendering BlackBerry's new L-Series device in 3D

And what little we do know has comes mostly from leaks. A recent video on Vietnamese site Tinhte showed us what the handset looks like and gave us a sneak peek at the new BB10 OS. Aside from that, all we've seen is an official RIM video showing off BB10s new touch keyboard.

So, as TechCrunch puts it, the reservation system Rogers is offering is a bit of a "mystery grab bag," especially since subscribers who reserve a handset won't know yet when the latest BlackBerry smartphone will even arrive at Rogers. But when they do arrive, subscribers will have their reserved smartphones delivered to a store of their choice, promises Rogers.

If surprises are your thing and you're already a Rogers customer, you can login to My Rogers now and reserve your all touch L-Series now. Otherwise you can always stick with your BlackBerry Curve or BlackBerry Touch until the end of January, when RIM promises all will be revealed.

RIM released this titillating teaser pic of one of their new BB10 devices

Sometimes, getting just a glimpse is more exciting than seeing the whole thing, especially when it comes to yet-to-be released smartphones.

Well, it seems BlackBerry maker RIM knows a thing or two about seduction. The proof? This teaser pic of an upcoming BlackBerry 10 device is undeniably sleek and sexy. I mean, just look at that line, that sophisticated textured finish.

Apparently, we're not the only ones who think so, either. Using pretty charged language, TechCrunch described the image as something to get everyone's "juices flowing" and lamented the incomplete view the pic offers as a mere glimpse at the device's "rear end."

True, we don't get much of a look here, just a shot of the textured leather-like rear plate. But judging by the dimensions and shape, TechCrunch says this is "almost certainly" RIM's L series all-touch BB10 device.

For a smartphone manufacturer known for its Qwerty keypads on devices, like the BlacKBerry Curve, Bold, and Touch, the device will be RIM's first touch-only phone.

Lucky for us, the company has promised its release before that of their upcoming BB10 touch-Qwerty combo device, so we should get a more fleshed out view of it at the end of January 2013, when RIM promises to unveil it in full. "So you won't have to wait much longer to witness the full monty," says Engadget.

That's just over a month from now, so lust if you will, but don't drive yourself crazy or anything.

UPDATE:

We just found out about a leak of high-res images and a lengthy video that purportedly shows the new BlackBerry L-Series device in detail. Check it out on our American blog here.

Could this be the new BlackBerry 10 all-touch device?

For anyone who's been waiting with baited breath for the new BlackBerry 10 operating system – and a device to go with it – don't worry, your patience will probably pay off soon. And in the meantime, there are some juicy glimpses at BlackBerry's possible future to tide you over.

The Canadian smartphone maker's new L-Series phone has been much rumored, and new leaks have indicated that we're closer than ever to Blackberry's first all-touch device.

MobileSyrup recently got their hands on a leaked image of what may be the new device – a keypad-less phone that looks a lot like the BlackBerry Dev Alpha device shown off by RIM CEO Thorsten Heins at the company's BlackBerry World 2012 event earlier this year.

MobileSyrup noted the leaked phone looks a lot like the keypad-less Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha device

BlackBerry 10 is expected to launch in early 2013, but the image, says MobileSyrup, is "just another glorious pic of what we can expect to see in a few months," adding "the other device that RIM will be releasing is a QWERTY/touch that will reportedly launch between 6-8 weeks later.

Meanwhile, a Spanish language video surfaced on Vimeo that seems to unintentionally out the new handset. And though it's been taken down since, someone had the good sense to repost it to YouTube in time. You can view it below.

Again, it's important to remember that no one can really confirm whether the leaked images and video show the final BlackBerry 10 smartphone, but at least it gives us BlackBerry fans something to chew on while we count down the days to the BB10 launch.

Last week, on our American blog, we started rounding up some of the best Halloween smartphone apps, in top 5 lists of the best spooky apps for iPhone and Android.

But since BlackBerry maker RIM is a home-grown company, we thought it apt to present the top 5 BlackBerry Halloween apps here, on our Canadian blog.

Check out our top picks for a hauntingly high-tech October 31, complete with real ghosts, game zombies and a prank or two thrown in for good measure.

1. Haunted Sights for BlackBerry

($3.99 or free at the CrackBerry App Store)

Always wanted to seek out a real haunted dig? The Haunted Sights app for BlackBerry draws on a database of more than 2,000 "confirmed" haunted locations in Canada and the U.S.

Using Google or BlackBerry Maps, the app offers up paranormal locations ranked for spooky activity, and lets you check out multimedia "evidence" of the ghosts. Happy haunting!

2. Plants Vs. Zombies for BlackBerry Playbook

($2.99)

PopCap's hit game Plants Vs. Zombies brings the undead to your BlackBerry Playbook for Halloween.

With its mix of creepy monsters and action/strategy, it's always a pretty solid bet as far as game apps go. But we can think of no better time to have it out with a couple of shuffling corpses than Halloween. Brains!!!

3. Halloween Arcade for BlackBerry Playbook

($1.99)

Pefect for the larger screen size of your tablet, Halloween Arcade for BlackBerry Playbook brings together 8 different classic arcade-style games in one not-so-scary but very festive app.

The "pick up and play" type games – which include Haunted House Shoot, Zombie Frenzy, and Pumpkin Up – are pretty involving considering they seem simple off the bat. A great Halloween-themed diversion for the price.

4. Horror Soundbox Halloween for BlackBerry

($0.99)

If you're a prankster, you'll probably appreciate the appeal of the Horror Soundbox app for BlackBerry.

Just imagine the kind of terror you could inspire with a list of scary sound effects that range from the relatively mild "grandma-level" creaking doors, to the "scare your hockey buddy senseless" ripping limbs.

5. Ghost Radar for BlackBerry

($2.99)

Say you've already got the Haunted Sites app, and now that you've arrived at the suggested grisly paranormal site, you want to locate your ghosts a little more precisely.

Well, the Ghost Radar app for BlackBerry claims to be able to help you there, by attempting "to detect paranormal activity by using various sensors on the device on which it is running."

The idea here is that the app uses electromagnetic fields, vibrations, and sound to locate ghosts on a radar grid on your smartphone. While it claims to be more effective than traditional ghost-reading technology, Ghost Radar is a fun and frightening app seasonal app whether you're a believer or not.

Happy Halloween everybody, from Pure Mobile!

Even when you're happy with what you've got, it's normal to want to check out what others are packing – especially when it comes to smartphones and tablets.

Now, if you live in the U.S., getting the scoop on the most popular mobile devices is relatively easy; someone's always keeping score.

But for us Canadians, the stats are too few and far between. But, thankfully, research firm Ipsos has just come out with some fresher data for us Canucks who want to know whether or not we're rocking the hottest gear, and Pure Mobile is relaying all the important points.

But for the sake of pure entertainment, we'll be doing it in the style of a popularity contest. After all, the beauty pageant format is a heck of a lot sexier than your everyday statistics report.

For the 40% to 50% of the Canadian population that owns a smartphone, there are only three real contenders: the polished and experienced beauty queen Apple, the home-grown sweetheart RIM, and the flashy upstart Samsung.

While Apple wears the crown for top mobile manufacturing brand (with 29% of the market), Canadian BlackBerry maker RIM comes in close second with 27% percent. I guess they'll have to duke it out in the bikini round.

Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif with the BlackBerry Curve 9220 smartphone

Samsung is a bit of a Miss Congeniality. They're not a leading mobile manufacturer, but they are the leader in Android OS market share in Canada with 36%, emerging as something of a popular favourite.

Samsung did well in terms of tablets too, with the Galaxy Tab nabbing 9% of the tablet market. That wasn't enough, however, to beat out the BlackBerry Playbook with 19%, or the reigning pageant queen Apple – their iPad commanded 42% of the market.

In the end, Apple gets the tiara and the sash or whatever, since it's overall the most popular device maker in the nation, though RIM has charmed its way into second place and Samsung has at least won a few admirers.

See? It's exactly like a beauty contest. Except the contestants are by definition smart.

By Aldo Panessidi

RIM has been on the road with the BlackBerry 10 OS since we first saw it firsthand at BlackBerry World 2012.  RIM is doing its best to get the OS in front of the developers who can help to make sure the device is a big success.

At events like BlackBerry 10 Jam sessions Gary Klassen, Principal Architect at RIM, has been showing off the BlackBerry 10’s very impressive touchscreen keyboard.  We particularly like the fact that it’s designed to predict what words you want to use and customize itself to meet your style and habits.

The following video provides an insight on how the Blackberry 10 Keyboard works

We also liked hearing more about what CEO Thorsten Heins calls RIM’s new “flow”- home screen widgets that give users the ability to take a quick peek at a previous screen or notifications.

By Aldo Panessidi

In a marvelous feat of technical ingenuity, a BlackBerry PlayBook developer, businesscat2000 has adapted iOS apps for PlayBook. Before this, no one has ever been able to successfully design functional iOS apps outside their native environment without Apple’s help.

The PlayBook and its QNX operating system is known for its compatibility and this is just more proof of that. This is an example of what could be the future of cross-platform app development.

The developer says he is able to adapt iOS to QNX because the two systems share a basic ARM-based architecture, making it possible to render specific open libraries such as OpenGL. In businesscat2000’s words:

“The CPU isn’t emulated on Playbook (though it is on Windows). It works very similarly to how WINE works to run Windows applications on Linux. The app binary is mapped into memory and imports are resolved to point to my own implementation of the various APIs needed. iOS actually uses a few open APIs already, which Playbook supports just as well (GL ES, and OpenAL). The bulk of the work has been in implementing all of the objective C classes that are required. The ARM code of the applications run as-is – the armv6/v7 support on PB/iDevices are pretty much identical, and the code is designed to run in USR mode. No SWIs, GPIO accesses or any of that kind of shenanigans.”

BlackBerry’s owner, RIM, has no arrangement with Apple. By modifying Apple’s applications for PlayBook businesscat2000 is violating Apple’s Rules & Regulations. Unlike PlayBook’s official Android Player apps, these are not sanctioned.

By Aldo Panessidi

RIM/BlackBerry -owned QNX released a video showing just how far they are advancing OS integration into the main- and secondary dashes in vehicles. The latest reference vehicle, a Jeep Wrangler, takes that integration to the next level.

In the video a group of engineers is designing a modified version of QNX with full support for the car’s sensors. 3G internet access is built in to the vehicle which allows streaming music and navigating with the GPS. The back seats appear to have PlayBook tablets attached to each of the headrests for passenger entertainment.

Integrating OS into market vehicles to this extent is an intriguing idea. It makes the touch- based dashes in many of today’s cars look a little behind the times. Who knows if this technology is even scalable. 

QNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market.

By Aldo Panessidi

RIM is keeping the market interested in the BlackBerry 10 by continuing to reveal its new features. The latest: home and app screens that reinforce fast and seamless multitasking. Each pane in a four-window display will include live apps. This is similar to how the BlackBerry PlayBook can show live apps in the background. RIM is probably going to make the apps more sophisticated so that they act like widgets. The photos show the BlackBerry 10 running on pre-production alpha hardware. The top view shows quick-glance access to weather, calendar information and the song currently being played.

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BlackBerry 10 will also allow the use of gestures to navigate between screens and applications. You swipe to the right from the home screen to bring up the app icon list. The music, calendar and pictures icons at the bottom scroll vertically. These icons will probably be very high-resolution and customizable on a grid. RIM already does this on its PlayBook, so we should see it here, too.

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Swipe left from the home screen to bring up the inbox. This inbox combines email, SMS messages, BBMs, Twitter, Facebook and other social media accounts onto one pane. Another swipe leads to another app or some kind of a calendar widget.

RIM says gestures will be consistent and accessible throughout the operating system and allow for fluid one-handed operation for most tasks. One gesture is what is called “looking type.”To use this feature you hold your thumb on the bottom right side of the screen. This will make everything zoom out to full view.

RIM has confirmed that they are working on the keyboard with the makers of SwiftKey. Their goals include improving the intelligent auto-correct and learning algorithms. RIM is also apparently working with Scalado on its camera “rewind” feature.

By Adhurim Murtezai

RIM’s BlackBerry World is no sooner underway then the argument begins over its decision to use a full touch screen and a virtual keyboard for its BlackBerry 10 operating system. RIM is making it clear that they are moving towards virtual keyboards for its devices.

Discover the latest mobile accessories at unbeatable prices for your Blackberry Bold 9900 smartphone and Playbook tablet.

While the first BB10 device will be touch screen only, diehard supporters of the BlackBerry’s hardware keyboard don’t despair. CEO Thorsten Heins emphasized that the company will continue to produce devices with hardware keyboards.

How RIM manages the evolution to a full touch screen remains to be seen. There’s speculation that RIM will squeeze BB10 onto a smaller screen like the Bold 9900, or create a hybrid like the Torch 9818. At least the company has let the market know its general direction.

With the migration to the relatively expensive touch screen, RIM is going to have to figure out how to offer low-cost solutions to developing markets. Whether that will involve low-resolution versions of the BB10, or continuing to market older BlackBerry devices, it’s all just speculation at this point.

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Even at the risk of upsetting their core customer base, some point out the benefits to RIM of migrating away from the hard keyboard completely. The vast majority of BB users recognize the versatility of virtual keyboards, so the old keyboard probably wouldn’t be missed for too long.

Hard keyboard or touch screen, RIM is going to have to make people fall in love with the BlackBerry again. As anyone who’s ever tried to win back a jilted lover can tell you, it’s almost impossible when they’ve found someone new.

Don’t forget that your old BlackBerry still needs love. If RIM is going “all out touch” and you’re not ready to give up on your old device, it’s a good idea to protect it and all your other devices with cases and skins and screen protectors.