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The good news: The BlackBerry 9000 does offer some nice upgrades over the 8800. The bad news: It’s not touch screen. Or at least that’s according to rumors. The screen will stay the same, though the keyboard will get bigger buttons. The trackball stays, and the device is a bit thinner than its ancestors. According to a leak, most employees at Research In Motion don’t have knowledge of a touchscreen in use. After the jump, we’ll get you a leaked picture of the new model.

Looks pretty standard to us. The thinness and bigger keyboard well be a boon for some, though we can imagine a good deal of disappointment over the lack of a touchscreen. However, the device won’t be shipped for at least six months, so it will give people time to cool down.

Apparently, the touchscreen idea was an internal rumor at RIM that was leaked, and it didn’t really have any legs. Another rumor floating around is that the 9100 will be separate from the 9000, and the 9100 will be the one to debut touchscreen for RIM. Take that with a grain of salt, though.

So the idea is to temper your expectations of the 9000. It probably won’t have a touch screen. We’re as disappointed as you. Yet we know that RIM will deliver the goods once we get our hands on the device.

[Electronista]

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