New BlackBerry Browser Thankfully More Like Safari Than Mosaic

The mobile browsing experience on Research in Motion’s BlackBerry is widely considered among the worst around. Inefficient and miserably slow, it is easily bested not just by the browsers of rival smartphones like Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, but by third-party alternatives like Opera Mini. So long-suffering BlackBerry owners will be glad to hear that an all-new Web browser is on the way.

During his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this morning, RIM (RIMM) co-CEO Mike Lazaridis demonstrated the forthcoming browser, which is based on the same WebKit rendering engine used by the iPhone and phones based on Google’s (GOOG) Android OS. Slated for release sometime later this year, the browser is allegedly more network-efficient than its rivals and handles AJAX, CSS and HTML5 with ease.

Indeed, Lazaridis said it scored 100 percent on the Acid 3 test for Web rendering. Seems RIM’s acquisition of browser-design firm Torch Mobile last year was a wise one–albeit late. Lazaridis also said the browser will be available sometime later this year. Below, two video demos.