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RIM releasing BlackBerry Tour for Sprint, Verizon
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Research In Motion unveiled its latest smartphone, the Tour, and said it would be available soon on Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless.
The gadget offers features for both consumers and business users, reflecting RIM's continued efforts to straddle the line between offering consumer-friendly smartphones and maintaining its base of enterprise users. The phone will support CDMA EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad, making it a world phone. The smartphone will have a 3.2-megapixel camera, media player for music and video, support for BlackBerry App World and a microSD slot.
Despite nothing revolutionary in the form factor of the device--it is similar to the Curve and the Bold--RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in an interview with Reuters that the Tour is "a big step forward."
Sprint said the Tour would be available later this summer for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after $150 in rebates. Verizon declined to comment on pricing or availability information for the Tour.
The device launches just a few days before RIM reports its latest quarterly earnings. According to Reuters, analysts expect the company to post solid results despite increasing pressures from the likes of Apple and Palm. However, all eyes will be on RIM's forecast for the coming quarters to see whether the company's momentum will continue.
For more:
- see these photos and specs
- see this Reuters article and this one
- see this Sprint release
- see this RIM release
Related Articles:
Analyst: RIM to face pressure amid Palm, Apple launches
RIM planning new version of BlackBerry Storm
RIM Launches BlackBerry App World
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Comments
Posted by Anonymous | June 16, 2009 - 9:47pm
FINALLY! Can't wait to use this device, especially for Phone As Modem on Sprint's network. Oh yeah, Sprint gives PAM for free with their BB Data Plan and it will cost you $15.00 on Verizon. Just something to consider when buying this device.
Posted by Anonymous | June 18, 2009 - 4:11am
I've been using Blackberries for over a year now (and have several of them to date). I'm not necessarily an "expert" on BB's but I know more than the average user.
I'm a gadget addict with full blown Blackberry addiction :-) If you have never had one and don't know what I mean when I say that don't worry, you will soon enough ;-) They say once you go BlackBerry you can never go back and for the most part that is true. I have had several Blackberries on Verizon (8830 World Edition, Curve 8930, Storm 9530, and soon to be the Tour 9630) which is my preferred carrier. But I do have a line on AT&T because I could not resist the Bold any longer. Soon I will have an unlocked TMobile BB 8900 Curve and swap that back and forth with my Curve (the wonders of a SIM card).
I came across a site for the blackberry tour owners Blackberry-tour.com I hope you will also find it useful. talk care.
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