BlackBerry AK is a Touchscreen-Equipped Apple Killer

Chalk this one up in the unconfirmed rumor column, but there’s word going around that Research in Motion is working on a BlackBerry that is designed to dethrone the iPhone. And they’ve codenamed it “AK” for Apple Killer (no apparent reference to the assault rifle).

This is a decidedly different handheld than the upcoming BlackBerry 9000-series, which has since been revealed as a QWERTY-packing, non-touchscreen device. The BlackBerry AK, on the other hand, will have a full touchscreen, approaching a market that has since been populated by HTC (Touch), LG (Prada), Samsung (Armani), and others.

There’s a possibility that the BlackBerry AK will ultimately be named the BlackBerry 9100. Whatever the case, if RIM is able to produce a solid piece of hardware, backed up by a solid BlackBerry OS and full enterprise integration, the 3G iPhone could have some serious competition on its hands.