R47: Mysterious ultra-premium BlackBerry purportedly created by Porsche Design

The biggest buzz around the BlackBerry camp all weekend is this mysterious device known only as the BlackBerry R47 (aka 9980 aka codename “Knight”). The R47 is apparently a ultra-premium smartphone created by Porsche Design based on the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

Porsche Design is a design studio owned by Porsche that specialises in limited edition premium lifestyle products and accessories that are imbued with the Porsche design DNA.

At the moment very little (nothing confirmed) is known about the device save for what can be deduced from the allegedly leaked pictures that first surfaced on a Chinese-based website www.maxpda.com.

So far, it appears that the R47 has virtually identical internals as the Bold 9900 including the touchscreen, NFC and BlackBerry 7 OS. Also, the device looks to be thinner than the 9900 and the keyboard looks like it would not be as comfortable to use.

Right now nothing is confirmed and the R47 is still shrouded in mystery. But if it is indeed true that an ultra-premium radically-designed limited edition Bold 9900-based smartphone is in the works, we seriously wonder what sense would it make when the presumably cheaper mass-market Bold 9900 will essentially offer the same features and performance.

What do you think?

More pictures of the mysterious R47 after the jump.

[via]