Troubled smartphone vendor RIM is reported to be planning to launch its first BlackBerry device using the QNX operating system – which underpins its PlayBook tablet – in the first quarter of 2012. Boy Genius Report claims the device, codenamed BlackBerry Colt, will see RIM make certain compromises on specs in order to hit the timeframe. For example, the publication claims the device will launch with a single-core processor and without support for current versions of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

RIM is expected to adopt QNX in the majority of its smartphones moving forward, a move that analysts believe could make the vendor a real challenger in the market once again. Last week it announced a raft of new devices based on BlackBerry 7 OS following sales numbers that have recently failed to impress, with the company missing its own guidance for the quarter to 28 May 2011, as it failed to capitalise on growth in the smartphone sector as a whole.