A week ago today, the details on 3 upcoming BlackBerry smartphones leaked which will possess the specs necessary in order for BlackBerry 6 run like it’s supposed to. I’m mainly talking about CPU’s between 800MHz and 1.2GHz. Sure there are many other upgrades which will be great to have, but the current BlackBerry smartphones CPU’s are hindering the BlackBerry 6 OS, especially in the case of the Torch 9800. The Dakota, Apollo and the Torch 2 or similarly spec’d devices should really have been released instead of the Bold 9780, Curve 3G and Torch 9800. At first thought, it may seem like RIM made a mistake, in that they believed those current device refreshes were spec’d to make BlackBerry 6 run great. However, after some careful considering, I don’t believe that’s the case.

RIM’s ultimate plan is to release QNX-based BlackBerry smartphones, but there are several obstacles which they need to overcome in order to make this happen. The QNX OS is basically giving RIM a second lease on life, which means anything RIM releases which is QNX-based, needs to be done properly from the start, especially smartphones.

While there’s no ETA for QNX-based BlackBerry smartphones, it’s clear that it’s going to take some time; I’m guessing at least Q3 2012, considering the Torch 2 (running BlackBerry 6.1) is currently slated to release late Q3 this year. If RIM released the Dakota, Apollo and Torch 2 or similarly spec’d devices instead of the current refreshes, most people wouldn’t see a need to upgrade those devices until QNX-based BlackBerry smartphones are finally released. The current refreshes seem to be fillers which are buying RIM some time and keep their devices sales up. You pretty much need one of the refreshes if you want BlackBerry 6 to run properly and that’s enough of an incentive to make people upgrade. RIM has to stretch out BlackBerry 6.x for a while and the device refreshes definitely helped fill that gap.

Just over a month ago, Mike Lazaridis explained in an interview that RIM has decided not to release BlackBerrys with single-core 1GHz processors and jump straight to multi-core, due to other smartphones with 1GHz processors burning up batteries before the day is through. And then 4 BlackBerrys with faster processors leaked out of nowhere like the 1.2GHz Torch 2. Hmm.. You can jump to the 30:00 mark and see Lazaridis make that claim while going back and forth with a disgruntled Torch 9800 user.

As for the Storm 9570 being scrapped, it doesn’t seem like an intelligent business decision. Even though the device would have made BlackBerry 6 usable and not much more, it would have filled a demanding gap. Details on the Monaco, (the next Storm device) leaked this past Friday and while the specs are great, it looks like it’s headed for a September launch which will be about 2 years since the Storm 2 launched. RIM has left the CDMA touchscreen market wide open to the exposure of new Android devices and soon, the iPhone in Verizon’s case. If you had a Storm 2 with a year left in your contract and the option for an early upgrade, would you wait another year? Would you upgrade to a Bold 9650? Would you pay the ETF and go buy a Torch? Or would you upgrade to a Droid or iPhone?

While I’m not happy that RIM is taking so long to release BlackBerry smartphones with good specs, I now see their strategy behind it (minus the scrapping of the 9570). As for those who are due for upgrades in the near future, some will jump ship and some will stick. For those who purchase a PlayBook, it should help ease the pain in the meantime. If you’re in the same boat as me, on AT&T and still using a Bold 9700, would you even upgrade at this point if hell froze over and the 9780 released? I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the estimated ETA is for the Dakota.