BlackBerry Dakota, Updated Curve: RIMs Smartphone Salvations?

Many have started to write BlackBerry off as a has-been in smartphones, as Apple and Android grab all of the headlines and steal market share. Its even been suggested that BlackBerrys parent company, Research In Motion, should spend more time focusing on the young tablet market instead. After all, its yet-to-be-released PlayBook is generating a lot of buzz online.

But hold the phone, literally. Boy Genius Report got its hands on a picture of the BlackBerry Dakota, which many are predicting could be the best BlackBerry ever. Its ultra-thin and expected to run on a brand-new OS update, BlackBerry 6.1. Other specs include:

BGR is also showing off a picture of a new BlackBerry Curve, with the code name Apollo. Its not quite the phone that the Dakota is, but it, too, is expected to run on BlackBerry OS 6.1, and appears to be a nice upgrade from the last Curve, the 8520. Specs include:

Even if these phones live up to their hype, they might still need quite a marketing effort. Many still see BlackBerry as a business-oriented brand with very little panache. When the BlackBerry Torch went on sale last summer, advertising was everywhere, yet only 150,000 units were sold in its first weekend. It wasnt long before AT&T cut the price of the device in half.