Could the BlackBerry 9800 be coming soon? Canadian smartphone giant RIM has scheduled an event in New York City for 3 August. Read on for more details of the latest whispers on the next CrackBerry…
BlackBerry remains the number one smartphone platform in the US, but has seen Apple’s iOS and Android eat steadily into its advantage. As a result, the pressure is on RIM for the BlackBerry 9800 Slider to be a success and to help turn things around.

The 9800 Slider will have the new BlackBerry OS 6 on board – itself a vital release for RIM – as well as a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi and 3G.

According to website Electronista, RIM’s press invite was short on details as to what the event is in aid of, only saying that it involved both itself and network AT&T – widely rumoured to be the exclusive carrier for the 9800 at launch.

A New York online retailer, meanwhile, has already started taking pre-orders for the 9800, complete with specification list for the new device. Mobile City Online is listing the BlackBerry 9800 at $600, locked to AT&T, while vital statistics include the presence of BlackBerry OS 6, Wi-Fi, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage.

It’s not clear whether the site has access to inside information from BlackBerry, or is simply repeating the most popular figures being bandied around online. All will be revealed next week, so stay tuned…

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