Blackberry owner Research In Motion’s moves to claw back share from arch rival Apple are about to become a whole lot more aggressive in light of a report that says that RIM will be unveiling its new tablet computer and the operating system that will power it as early as next week.

We wrote in May that BlackBerry had designs on the tablet market, since when little detail has surfaced. But according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, the firm is set to reveal more at a developers’ conference in San Francisco.

The tablet, which has been dubbed the BlackPad by some RIM insiders, will feature a seven-inch touch-screen and one or two built-in cameras. It will also include Bluetooth and broadband connections but will only be able to connect to mobile phone networks via a standard BlackBerry device.

RIM’s plans include the adoption of a new operating system to replace its recently overhauled BlackBerry 6 operating system. It will implement a completely new system built by QNX Software Systems, a firm RIM bought earlier this year.

BlackBerry’s OS has received much criticism for being bug-ridden and clunky, whereas QNX’s expertise resides in building systems for nuclear reactors and cars (so one suspects, and hopes, that its technology is nigh-infallible). The company is likely to replace all OS with QNX, a system that has been lauded for its reliability.

In the smartphone stakes, BlackBerry has been losing share to Apple thanks to the furious take-up of the latter’s iPhone, not discounting the additional impact on its share of devices from other manufacturers, such as those running on Google’s Android OS.

According to data from Gartner, BlackBerry’s global share of smartphone sales fell 1% to 18% in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous year, while Apple’s and Android’s share of sales grew.

Likewise, Apple’s iPad is not the only tablet that RIM will have to take on. The launch of the iPad in early this year paved a way allowing other technology firms to follow, such as Microsoft, Samsung, Acer and Dell, some of which will run on Google’s Android technology.

Of the issues that RIM has been facing, not least is the fading attraction of its devices to app developers. This is an area that the company is addressing and it is expected to spend a lot of next week’s conference trumpeting the technology that its new devices can run – such as an updated BlackBerry mobile ad platform and an Amazon digital music application.

Other details that RIM is to set to announce is that the BlackPad will be manufactured by Quanta Computer and will run on chips produced by Marvell Technology Group. While both firms admitted to WSJ that they were working on tablets for clients, neither would acknowledge that they were working for RIM. RIM itself said it wouldn’t comment on rumour or speculation.

I for one welcome moves by any technology firm other than Apple, whose dominance and ability to sustain itself as by far the most talked-about gadget group in the world is becoming just a tad tiresome. It’s got to be good news too for consumers, because if the BlackPad becomes a serious challenger to the iPad, then we might just have a fruit-themed price war on our hands.