The BlackBerry London smartphone could well be the only flagship device which Canadian manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) releases in 2012, but based on leaked images a single mobile this good might be enough.

The BlackBerry London has been in the works for several months and it was first spotted in November 2011 when a series of images allegedly showing the prototype were published online. RIM has clearly spent the intervening time revising the look of the BlackBerry London as the brushed metal shell of the initial handset has been ditched in favour of a sleek, matte black finish similar to that of the Playbook tablet.

The similarities between the BlackBerry London and RIM`s Playbook are likely no accident as the smartphone will run the BlackBerry 10 operating system which in turn is based on the tablet`s QNX platform.

The current BB OS7 smartphones will be playing second fiddle to the London once it`s officially launched, but RIM has committed to continued support for its older software platforms, albeit on a smaller scale.

BB 10 will bring a number of new high end features to the table, including a 3D interface, Android app compatibility and enhanced multitasking. This should help RIM`s devices to keep pace with rivals which have been gradually eating into its share of the smartphone market over the past three years.

Although little technical information is known about the BlackBerry London it will presumably have at least a dual core processor in order to remain competitively powerful. RIM has also ditched the physical keypads found on most of its other models in favour of a touch-only interface, which might put off long time business users while simultaneously winning the attention of a wider audience.

RIM could have been granted something of a reprieve when it comes to getting the BlackBerry London ready for launch this year after Samsung announced that it was delaying the debut of its Galaxy S3 smartphone.

The hype machine surrounding the S3 has already shifted gears but now Samsung has confirmed that it will not be revealed to the media visitors at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) show. Instead it is going to dedicate an entire launch event to this flagship smartphone closer to the time of its availability to consumers.

The Galaxy S3 is going to set the bar for what people expect from smartphones in 2012. A quad core processor, high definition display and super thin design are all anticipated, although if RIM is planning ahead then its own BlackBerry London will also share these attributes.

For the time being BlackBerry Torch contract deals remain the primary way to get your hands on an RIM handset with a large touch screen display. However, with the Torch`s slide-out QWERTY keypad you still get the precision and speed of typing using physical buttons which will certainly be absent from the London.