BlackBerry Onyx with Optical Trackball Leaks Out

Looks like RIM’s getting serious about optical trackballs – first the Curve 8520 ditched the spinner and now it looks like the Onyx has been upgraded as well. That’s pretty much just as we’ve all expected ever since we first laid eyes on this 3G mash-up of the Bold and Curve 8900. We find optical trackballs to be pretty great. Of course, there’s no word on a ship date, but we’re hoping it’ll be soon.

We have been saying that this would be the case for long as we can remember, but today a new photograph has emerged which lends irrefutable evidence to our long-standing claim. The BlackBerry 9020, for now known by its codename Onyx, will be shipping out retail-style with an optical trackpad in lieu of the trackball. Based on the photograph above it’s impossible to tell if what we’re looking at is a late prototype or an early production unit, but seeing as the Onyx has already begun its factory journey we certainly can’t rule the later out.

Via BoyGeniusReport