BlackBerry 10-powered L-Series handset leaks online again

The BlackBerry L-series has been pictured again, running BlackBerry 10, said to be the saving grace of RIM's smartphone business. It looks remarkably like an iPhone, too.

The series of images was snapped up by CrackBerry and shows the handset stacked up against one of RIM’s more traditional Bold devices.

The L-Series is huge in comparison as well as a lot slimmer and does share more than a passing resemblance to the iPhone 5. 

RIM will unveil BlackBerry 10 and – potentially – this handset to the world on January 30 at a global launch event. It’s going to be an exciting launch for many reasons but mostly because BlackBerry 10 and its accompanying hardware is RIM’s last real chance to close the gap between itself and the likes of Google and Apple. 

RIM needs to take third place in the global smartphone space. And to do that it has to fend off Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8, which has backing from Nokia, HTC, and Samsung to name just a few of the company’s hardware partners. 

Opinions are polarised over BlackBerry 10 with some commentators saying it’ll be the best thing to happen to the industry since RIM first released a handset, and others claiming it’s too little too late. 

Check out our first-look at RIM’s BlackBerry 10 right here.