BlackBerry 7 to replace BlackBerry 6.1?

It seems that the next step in the BlackBerry operating system world would be BlackBerry 6.1, but that notion has been thrown out of the window as word on the street has it that BlackBerry 7 will be the new flavor in town instead – at least we will all know for sure when the operating system update is unveiled at the BlackBerry World show next week.

If this happens to be true, then it would mean that previous whispers of BlackBerry 7 rolling out later this November is nothing but hogwash- and it will also contradict other rumors that it will not be based on the QNX platform, which is what the PlayBook from RIM uses.

One of the more likely reasons for changing its name to BlackBerry 7 would be because current smartphones from RIM will be unable to support the new software, and to name it 6.1 is a surefire method to introduce confusion to the masses, whereas BlackBerry 7 might be just the tonic required to market the platform as a totally new evolutionary step.