Reports suggest that Research In Motion is preparing a new touch-based operating system for its BlackBerry smartphones as well as new devices that support the platform. The Canadian vendor is believed to be working on a reworked, Web-friendly BlackBerry operating system (WebKit browser), as well as a new 3G Pearl 9100, Tour2 and a hybrid keyboard-touchscreen device.

“From what we’ve heard, RIM appears to be on track to close the gap with Apple, (Motorola’s) Android and Palm on the browser experience,” TD Newcrest analyst Chris Umiastowski wrote yesterday, according to Reuters. “We are not changing our estimates at this time, but we believe there could be upside to our numbers for the May quarter.”