On the cusp of Mobile World Conference 2012 comes leaked images of RIM’s latest endeavor, the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The pictures show a familiar-looking BlackBerry unit with a very new user interface. But it’s not just eye candy, we can actually learn something from these pictures. Here’s what they tell us …

A tip of the hat goes to Crackberry.com for posting the images. Originally, Crackberry posted an image of what looked like a BlackBerry PlayBook, smashed up and shrunk down to the size of (and style) of an iPhone. But the image was a rendering from a slide deck, not a real photograph. Now, photos of what appears to be a BlackBerry Torch running BlackBerry 10 have arrived, and the it’s a much more convincing representation of what we can expect sometime this year. Yes, the screen images are likely simulated in the pictures, but it’s also what the final product will end up looking like.

So what have we all be waiting for? According to Crackberry.com, BlackBerry 10 will include:

Personally, I like the new style. It’s sleek, industrial and professional. It feels fresh. The problem with it (and a problem that was recognized by some disenchanted Crackberry readers) is that it’s too little, too late. If we assume the little we’ve learned about the new features in BlackBerry 10 will be the only new features at the debut, it shows RIM isn’t innovating, it’s just playing catch-up. This has been my prevailing concern about RIM. Still, it’s a bit unfair to assume RIM will have no surprising features. Like so many other things, we’ll just have to wait unit the official unveiling. I’m hoping RIM won’t disappoint.