BLACKBERRY LAUNCHES YET AGAIN:BlackBerry 10 Preview: RIM Releases Alpha Version Of New, Potentially Company-Saving OS (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

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New CEO. New operating system. New Research In Motion?

Freshly-installed RIM CEO Thorsten Heinstook the stage at the annual BlackBerry World conference to give, for the first time, a look at some of the features of BlackBerry 10, the BlackBerry operating system that Research In Motion hopes will turn around its floundering smartphone sales.

The keynote was centered on the new BlackBerry operating system, which will come pre-installed on new BlackBerry devices. What those devices look like and will cost remains a mystery, as RIM did not use the conference to show off any new handsets, nor did it give an estimated release date for its new OS. Analysts expect the operating system, and the new BlackBerry phones, to become available in October.

Heins' keynote was all about the operating system, in other words. Below is a teaser video for the new BlackBerry OS that RIM showed at the conference, emphasizing the new touch keyboard with predictive typing and a more stylish, interface. (Again, note that the phones shown are dummy prototypes and do not reflect what the actual BlackBerry 10 devices will look like when they are released later this year.)

So what's new with BlackBerry 10? The flashiest changes, and the ones that Heins spent the most time on during his keynote, are coming to the on-screen keyboard and the camera. With the on-screen keyboard, you're going to be getting a lot more gesture control for faster typing. Swiping to the left on the keyboard deletes your last word (this handy feature will be familiar to some Android users); swiping up toggles the keyboard between alphabetical and numerical input.

Another cool feature, as detailed by TechCrunch, is the option to let the phone scan through all of your text messages, emails and contacts upon startup in order to build your own personal dictionary before you ever type a text message. This will obviously be helpful for those with a name that is not in a typical English dictionary, or those who use a lot of -- ahem -- profanity.