Research in Motion today confirmed that the first BlackBerry 10 device would not feature a hardware keyboard.

The choice seems to coincide with decisions to make the device more competitive with devices from competitors’ offerings. The first device is believed to be released in the fourth quarter of 2012, at the same time Jelly Bean and Windows Phone 8 devices are set to appear, the next iPhone is expected to launch at the same time.

These reports seem to confirm that the first device should be something in the lines of the BlackBerry London device that has leaked several times before. RIM did mention that devices with physical keyboard will arrive in the first quarter of 2013.