First look: What to expect in BlackBerry OS 6.0

At WES 2010 on Tuesday, RIM announced a lot more details about the next version of its OS platform, which it's now officially calling "BlackBerry 6," and provided a demo of the new software in action.

Here is a punch list of the new features:

• Updated GUI that extends the black OS 5 theme with new animations and transitions
• New home screen
• New Web browser based on Webkit, with multiple sessions and tabbed browsing
• Multiple views in the UI for apps (such as All, Favorites, Media, Downloads)
• New context-sensitive pop-up menus
• Multi-touch, including pinch-to-zoom in Web browser and photos
• Universal search
• New app that will pull in feeds from both RSS and social media
• New media player
• Most of BlackBerry's core apps redesigned for the new platform

Here is the same video RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis showed WES attendees during his Tuesday morning keynote:

See also:

• Live blog: RIM keynote at WES 2010 on future of BlackBerry
• BlackBerry OS 6.0 release date: Fall 2010
• RIM BlackBerry Pearl 3G, Bold 9650 (photos)
• RIM melds BlackBerry with PBX handsets
• RIM announces BlackBerry Pearl 3G; bets many consumers won't need full QWERTY
• BlackBerry 9650 makes the Bold RIM's new flagship smartphone