The BlackBerry 9000, a phone that has still yet been officially confirmed by RIM gets leaked online, sold, and then reviewed. Kevin Michaluk recently won an eBay auction for the still unannounced BlackBerry 9000 smartphone. In fact the BlackBerry 9000 is placeholder name until RIM gives it a name like the Pearl or Curve.

In late April Crackberry forum members noted that 3 pre-release BlackBerry 9000 had popped up in the UK. Two of three auctions were taken down immediately, oddly leaving one auction. While skepticism surrounded the auction and the phones, Michaluk has proven skeptics wrong with the delivery of a fully functioning BlackBerry at the price of $828 USD.

So far, initial impressions have been positive. The keyboard seems “pretty good”, with a similar keyboard approach offered by the 8700 and Curve series. The phone was loaded with OS4.6 and appears “smooth” and “pretty”. The display powered by a 480 by 320 HVDA Color LCD was described as “AWESOME”. Lastly, a 3G logo was discovered on the device — something not seen before and actually brought Michaluk to tears.

The BlackBerry 9000 is silightly wider and a bit heavier than previous RIM devices but should leave “every other BlackBerry made to date in the dust.” The BlackBerry 9000 is reported to make its debut with AT&T later this year in the U.S., but is being delayed due to call quality issues and the possibility of a conflicting launch with the 3G iPhone. Rumors of the BlackBerry 9000 began to swirl early January when a Vodafone roadmap was leaked.

Final specifications include Quad-band GPRS/EDGE 800/850/1800/1900MHz, HSPDA 850/1900/2100MHz, HVGA LCD (480x320), Trackball navigation, 2MP camera, WiFi (A/B/G), GPS, and OS4.6.

In related news, HTC announced its Diamond Touch luxury phone today, featuring iPhone-like features and a glossy touch screen. HTC says its phone is far superior than anything currently available in its class, and is 3.5G ready, offering even better connectivity and speeds than Apple’s unannounced 3G iPhone.