BlackBerryOS.com - QNX + OS 6.1 = BlackBerry OS 7 ‘Highlander’

Are you patiently awaiting what OS 7 will be like? Besides the fact that we already know it's being worked on, what else can we expect from the OS? We learn a bit more from the CTO of software, David Yach, as he gave a keynote at RIM’s internal RDX dev conference. Here are a few of the highlights from the keynote, discussing the implementation of OS 7 and such:

A big portion of the talk is focusing on the benefit RIM will get from centralizing processes and tools.
One of the key reasons OS 6.1 is falling behind schedule is miscommunication between teams in the critical path of the project
He didn’t focus on the problems as much as how RIM is going to solve them by easing conflicts in the critical path
There is a new project “Highlander” using the concept from the movies “There can be only one”
This project is taking the best features from OS 6.1 and the QNX OS to make OS 7. This seems to be where the rumors about OS 6.1 having a QNX core are coming from
RIM is “very happy” with OS 6.1 but it struggling with losing the features users love
OS 6.1 is almost 10 years old and has pushed its limits
Still they are very happy about the “Liquid Graphics” in OS 6.1 adding a WOW factor to BlackBerry's
This new OS 7 will also be the OS for the Playbook down the road. Seeing the theme of “there can be only one” ?
RIM is still in the “early stages” of OS 7 with a target of 2012

From the looks of the overall keynote, it seems as RIM is going to take the Apple approach with iOS and bring BlackBerry Smartphone and Tablets to a common ground that will run the same OS. Mashing OS 6.1 with QNX seems to be the solution as they struggle with competition and to find the perfect OS for BlackBerry devices. When will we see OS 7? As long as RIM stays on top of it, we may see OS 7 on our BlackBerry's later this year.