Research in Motion offers a peek at BlackBerry 10

Research in Motion gave developers a sneak peek at its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system, expected to be released sometime this year.

At the company’s BlackBerry World 2012 event in Orlando on Tuesday, new CEO Thorsten Heins (he of the extremely awkward introduction video in January) unveiled a prototype of the system in front of 5,000 customers, developers and other attendees.

In the 47-second video that the company also shared online, a customer uses a BlackBerry 10 smartphone to scroll through emails and crisp photos; quickly type, with the help of predictive text, on a touchscreen; watch videos; and sync the phone up to a television screen.

The video had a generally positive reception from viewers on YouTube, with 824 likes and 72 dislikes around noon on Tuesday. But the top comments were: “iOS 3.0 > BlackBerry 10” and “Android 2.0 > BlackBerry 10.”

RIM provided a few additional details about BlackBerry 10. The operating system will enable users to continually access content between applications, so “whether you are browsing the Internet or organizing meetings with a glancing gesture, BlackBerry 10 immerses you into conversations. It streams all feeds to one place and applications keep running – creating an agile and nimble experience.”

The OS also increases keyboard responsiveness through a touch keyboard that uses modeling algorithms to learn where the user presses for each letter, “becoming tailored to the user’s hand like a glove.”

And camera enhancements will enable BlackBerry 10 users to tap anywhere on the screen to take a photo.

RIM has kept mum on the actual release date for BlackBerry 10, which will be available in phones and tablets. The Canadian company desperately needs the operating system to be a hit after its reputation has slipped in recent quarters. In the U.S. in particular, consumers have shifted to trendier iPhones and Android devices.

However, BlackBerry continues to have a loyal following in developing countries. Heins noted on Tuesday that “for more than 77 million people across the globe, BlackBerry helps them succeed on a daily basis.”

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