Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphones, told shareholders of plans to release new smartphones running on next-generation operating system in the coming months.

RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie acknowledged at the annual meeting of shareholders on Tuesday that there have been delays in releasing the new OS, but the BlackBerry maker is confident the new phones would help RIM meet its financial targets for the year.

BlackBerry in May already cut its earnings outlook and said it would reducing its headcount, after losing ground in the smartphone market to rivals. RIM's BlackBerry smartphones are popular with business customers but RIM has not deployed a major new BlackBerry model since August last year.

RIM released the PlayBook tablet this April, but like other non-iPad tablets, it has failed to make waves in a market dominated by Apple's iPad. RIM though has shipped 500,000 PlayBook tablets within three months after the release, exceeding the 350,000 units estimated by analysts. However, this pales in comparison the more than 2 million units of Apple's iPad2 sold within a month of its release. Apple's iPad dominates 80% of the market.

The PlayBook has also received poor reviews. The tablet runs on the BlackBerry Tablet OS, which allows multi-tasking and has Adobe Flash support. Users and reviewers, however, have complained of the relatively smaller screen size, the absence of native e-mail, calendar and contacts apps, and the lack of consumer apps. In addition, about 1,000 tablets had to be recalled because of defective software.

RIM once dominated the corporate smartphone market but Apple's iPhone and phones running Google's Android have taken BlackBerry's place. RIM thought hopes to rebound in the second half of the year with a release of new phones, starting with the new touch screen version of the BlackBerry Bold.

The Canada-based company has already scheduled a "late August" release of the new touch BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930. The new Bold looks a lot like the previous version, but boasts of a 2.8" touch screen and claims to be the thinnest Blackberry phone yet. The Bold phone has the physical keyboard that is a trademark for BlackBerry phones and the touch screen that makes the iPhone popular. It has a 1.25 GHz processor, 786 MB of RAM, 8 GB of onboard memory with an option to expand (using up to a 32 GB media) card, and dual-camera, including a 5-megapixel back-facing camera for 720p HD video recording.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 will run on BlackBerry 7, the latest version of RIM's operating system, and will support BlackBerry App World for purchasing and downloading apps. The BlackBerry 7 browser includes a new JIT (just in time) JavaScript compiler to improve the load time speed of web pages. The new browser also includes support for additional HTML5 elements, such as HTML5 Video.

Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO with Balsillie, attributed the delays in the new OS on the company's efforts to launch smartphones that meet market expectations. "It may have delayed us, but we are going to come out ahead," Lazaridis said.

Lazaridis said RIM is continuing to build on its reputation for security. As a boost to the PlayBook, he added that trials of the PlayBook were under way at more than 1,500 companies and government agencies.

RIM has come under pressure from investors to shake up its management -- including the co-CEO arrangement -- after losing market share.

The decline of RIM's shares has triggered speculation about a possible takeover by Apple or Microsoft Corp. But Balsillie said a rights plan would be put in place in the "blink of an eye'' in the event of a hostile takeover bid.

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