Pictures of BlackBerry's new OS 10 have been leaked online and show a drastic change to the way that RIM's operating system will look. 

First up, the home screen has undergone a major facelift, adding what looks like widgets and ideas taken from the BlackBerry PlayBook. Looking more like a scaled down version of the QNX interface found on RIM's tablet, you can clearly see a huge change in how BlackBerry mobiles will operate.

Like Microsoft with Windows Phone 7 before it, RIM has thrown a lot out of the window in order to focus on modernising how its mobile phones work. In the pictures are clear and updated app icons, a universal mailbox with a far nicer text font and contact screens that are cleaner and easier to understand. Mention of video calling is also made, as is what looks to be a customisable task bar on the bottom of the screen.

The pictures shown do come from what BlackBerry would call its 'all touch' range of phones, ie, those lacking QWERTY keyboards. We can't yet be sure how the BlackBerry 10 OS will shape up on conventional keyboard-packing RIM phones, although expect it to be very similar. 

On one of the pictures, which shows the handset's icon tray, you can see iOS style folders as well as what look like live app icons. BlackBerry has mentioned the idea before, but the fact that the clock icon doesn't match with the phone's time shown and the pictures are presumably generic, suggests it wont go that far. 

There isn't a lot else we have on OS 10 yet, but as soon as we hear more we'll post it. Handsets using the OS aren't expected for a few months yet, but hold on to your hats for MWC, as you never know what might be making an appearance there. 

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