Above is a photo shop of the BlackBerry Storm running QNX, NOT a rendering of the forthcoming BlackBerry Colt

While BlackBerry 7 is the hot-topic right now in terms of BlackBerry OS’s, the main question on everybody’s mind is the PlayBook’s QNX OS and when it can be expected to launch on a phone - ya know, so Android apps can be used on a BlackBerry (among many, many other reasons). Well, BGR (being BGR) has broken the news on RIM’s plans for the OS and it goes a little something like this: the name of the phone is tentatively the “BlackBerry Colt” and it’s expected to launch Q1 of 2012. Below is official word from RIM themselves:

“RIM has always touted the superior battery life of its mobile devices, and this has forced the vendor to be one of the last to adopt various technologies, from full-color screens to fast 1+ GHz processors. In a time where we’re close to seeing quad-core CPUs in mobile devices, RIM is launching single core devices with a promise of dual-core processors coming to its future QNX smartphones. The information we have received suggests that the first QNX device out of Research In Motion will be powered by a single-core processor, however, rather than a speedier multi-core chipset. It’s entirely possible that it could change ahead of the device’s release, our source said, but the internal testing going on right now is with a single-core chip.”

Word has it the device is already being tested internally and should be on track for the expected launch. More to follow on this one.

[via BGR]