If this is REALLY the storm 3....goodbye RIM.

soooo will this hotspot just be for S3 or a BB6 feature that will work on our 9700 assuming we get it? hmmm

How Exciting! I Can't Wait For More Details To Leak About This Device!

I hope the rumors of the 1gh processor are true!

I'm guessing they will use the same business model as they did with the recent Droid X release in that the 3G hotspot will come at a cost of an extra $20/mo for 2GB of data?

I am more inclined to believe other trusted sources that claim a 1GHz processor, likely LTE, and 1GB RAM.

Although I love my Storm...if this is all they are offering I may have to jump ship...gotta go try the DroidX out i guess...

This is NOT the Storm 3.

It clearly says "Odin Refresh"...Odin was the codename for the Storm 2.

Lets not get this twisted. My RIM rep also confirmed that this is just a refresh and NOT a new device, so it is NOT the Storm 3.

Did I mention that this isn't the Storm 3?

i'm ready to check out the droidX, i've been a RIM customer for a couple of years now and since i'm not a heavy business user the droid line seems to have more features and applications that would suit my recreational use better than blackberry.

Will this Storm be GSM? If not...

/caring

Not sure how to feel about this one. My Storm2 performs well, and I'd like a S3... but that refresh feels a bit lightweight.

On the same note, if it means I won't be able to get OS6 on my S2, I might just lose my mind with how much of an improvement OS6 is over OS5.

With as cheap as it for manufacturers to import 1Gig of RAM into these things now, I truly see no reason to NOT add 1GB or more of RAM into these devices.

It was clearly said that the Storm 3 would have a NEW DIFFERENT OS, NOT BLACKBERRY OS 6..... :S

loving top right of the image... "strictly confidential"

If this is just a "Refresh," I wonder if Verizon will allow us Storm2 users to "refresh an upgrade" at a good rate?? My NE2 isn't up until June 2010 and my next major purchase will be a LTE, but I would be willing to upgrade to this for memory & browser improvements.

I swear to god, RIM could have one of the best phones on the Market if they just released a Bold with all the best features out there and the same size of a bold 9000 with a slightly bigger screen. I've been waiting for them to do this for some time now and its just a shame they keep pushing us this backyard boogie when Apple and Google are coming out with straight Kush. I'm a bBerry addict and I wouldn't switch sides but damn man... Come on RIM, make us loyal bberry lovers proud! We know you guys like putting that BS out, but give us just one high end phone damnit. Something like this:

BBerry bold 9000 SIZE phone

1gig ram
1g or more snapdragon
You tube app lol
More apps
Great browser
And everything else that blackberry is known for.

With the 9700a (delta) coming for an OS6 upgrade, I would lean towards this being an S2a, so to speak. Even tho I'm not someone who likes/has to have the best/biggest/newest/highest end thing you can buy, I'd like to see RIM really take the S3 to that competing level.

All signs are pointing to BBs requiring 512MB of RAM to run OS6. This is the second "refresh" device that has come about. The 9700 is said to be getting a refresh as well. Sure as hell hope RIM will be offering these devices dirt cheap due to incremental updates. It isn't likely though. See 9630 & 9650.

Meh? Hoping for more...

RIM is really upping the ante. /sarcasm/

There were some rumors a while back that the Storm 3 and 4 would be released near each other. apparently 512 is the minnimum for os6 to run. The S3 is just an effort to get a model out that will support their new os. A friend of mine from this site who has always provided me with quality info is expecting the announcement to be as late as possible because of all the people they're going to anger when their device does not support os6. He also told me to expect minor refreshes of all current models to a similar version with 512mb and a few minor enhancements. RIM would like to have several handsets available at the launch of os6 and they simply could not do that if they launched all new "redesigned" products since none of the current 256mb and below devices could handle it.

* Update *

Apparently there is some concrete evidence online of this, I will search to post. It wasn't from lack of trying, as RIM tried to run os6 on current devices but the user experience was so poor that they decided it would detract from the experience and the real os 6 delay was trying to get a acceptable user experience on current devices, now the delay is they want a number of 512 devices on every carrier before they release. MY OPINION: they are keeping quiet on devices it will run on because of user backlash and also explains the lack of any current device leaks. That statement was just my opinion.

Good bye RIM, it's been fun, but epic fail....... I have been in love with you since my good ol' Curve 8330. Now you have let me down, and I can't stand the wait for yesterdays tech, when I can clearly get it today from someone else. It was good and for awhile the best, but your old news, and I need the loeader of the pack, not the lame pack mule.

Droid or iPhone it is..........

Storm refresh
Bold refresh
curve refresh
Flip refresh
Just looks like they are getting ready for OS6.

I trust Sal when it comes to rumours. This is NOT the Storm 3.

Wouldn't an Odin Refresh be a Storm 2.5? They don't followup a new product by calling it the same as a prvious model refreshed right?

My upgrade is due in the middle of September. Sure woul dbe nice if I didn't have to wait until the end of the year to get a Storm2 with the webkit browser on it.

"refresh", so i will assume this will be similar to the 9700 to 9700(a) refresh!!

Breaking from it. I mentioned this before in an OS6 thread; everyone wants OS6 to be awesome and chalk-full of ridiculously cool new features, but to do so requires steeper hardware requirements than past OSes (rather obvious I'd think). You can't have your cake and eat it too, if the OS is going to be more than slightly evolutionary (which everyone seems to want) then the hardware requirements will have to be more revolutionary.

I expect them to lose a lot of non-corporate market share...but it might also let them start over with a more sound hardware and software base to compete the next few years. I sure hope so. I also hope the Storm 4 is therefore a lot closer than winter 2011 (which seems likely if it's going to be one of the first LTE phones) and that they can make it worth taking a very serious look at it again.

Lots of negativity.... I read Odin refresh on top of the screen, so I'm not entirely sure if this would be the storm 3. And to all those who want the new storm to have more power... You have to think about what RIM is prioritizing on. I haven't seen a blackberry come out with the best and most powerful hardware on the market... So it puzzles me on why you expect more lol. And if it did, I would be worried about things like battery life. Right now, I think anything more would be overkill, and pretty much unnecessary. I personally can't wait to see this come out. And I'm also looking forward to BBOS 6.

What happened to the STORM3 being a LTE/4G device?

RIM will have really dropped the ball if the Storm3 is still a 3G device, only reason that I was even considering it as an upgrade option.

Of course with VZW only rolling out their LTE network next year, it may be another 18months before most of us really see LTE coverage... so maybe a BB capable of LTE reception is a little ahead of the game.

Again, if the rumors have any truth why would they be so stupid to refresh the Storm with an S2a like this, only to drop the S3 with vastly superior specs and LTE support so soon together.

It says this is a training slide, training on what? VZW wouldn't be training staff now on devices coming out in 3 months, and why would RIM train staff on upcoming devices like this?

I smell something bogus here...

I just want a phone that isn't going to hourglass. Unless it says 1ghz or better with a gig of memory. It's still going to hourglass all the time. What's the point in spending money on that.

I'm starting to see what RIM is doing now and they are going to get it off. All they doing is upgrading older devices to they can run blackberry 6. So far all of their top selling phone got updated and there are rumors of a upgrade for the 9700 to. The crazy part is I was the one saying to myself I wouldn't go out and get another BB just cause of a os upgrade. Looks like I fell for the banana in the tailpipe cause I couldn't help but get the bold 9650. Wow RIM keep up the good work.......

I went with Blackberry because Verizon and they're infinite wisdom, decided not to negotiate with Apple. From what I see (coming from Pearl, Curve, Storm and now Storm 2) iPhone is the one. RIM has tried and tried, but when it comes down to it, there's really no comparison. Not only will I not get another Blackberry because as soon as you get the new kid on the block, it's old news and not supported like most would like to see. Rumor has it, Verizon will release it's version of the iPhone in 2011. If they do, I'll stay with them. If not, with Verizons coverage being as good as it is, I'll get a cheap flip phone.

Storm 2 is an "ok" phone. Not a iPhone killer though by any stretch of the RIM imagination...

512 MB of Ram was plenty not too long ago. It's not cool anymore because it doesn't have 1 GB as we had hoped for.
The last time I checked, one of the most popular phones out today, the iPhone, has 512 MB of RAM. So what makes the Storm 3 coming out with 512 so old?

This is definitely not a new storm, but the storm 2 refresh (like the bold 9700 update). I still think (or hope) that Sal's predictions for the Storm3 are goin to hold...

Thank god, I was dreading a slider..hopefully this thing works the way it needs to, I like my Storm 1 but it really lags, and is disappointing at times compared to other devices!

Edit* I guess I should have read some of the comments, but I was dreading the slider being the new storm...blah, thats fine I can wait for the real Storm 3 or 4, my NE2 is about a year away....

If this is a refresh of the Storm 2, it sucks for the customers who just purchased an S2, if it is the Storm 3, it sucks cause its such a minor refresh. I'm just saying.......

Am I the only one able to decrypt "Specification subject to changes" in the top right corner of that slide ?

;)

This has to be a Storm 2 refresh. I used to own the LG Voyager--the Black one...and then they said they were to do a refresh, but turned out it was just a different colour (the silver colored one) and some MINOR fixes--and I mean, MINOR lol. Phone was crap. :-) Soooo hopefully that helps a bit. Maybe the S3 rumors for 2011 release is true? Aka the notorious storm 4 that is supposed to have even BETTER features. lol. :-)

I posted this over in the rumors section, but it might be more useful here:

Assuming that this is NOT the branded S3 but rather a refresh, but that the branded S3 will still be coming in the first half of 2011...that would sync up perfectly with the rumors from earlier in the year that claimed that the "S3" was going to hit in Q4 2010 and the "S4" was going to hit in Q2 2011...everyone doubted it at the time, but if the person leaking (or at least reporting it) assumed the refresh was the S3 and that the S3 would therefore be the S4...it all lines up nicely. That further lines up with reports that LTE phones will lag a bit behind the initial roll out of LTE in November, which will apparently be mostly targeted at data cards to start with (can anyone say "sexy new VZ tablets for the holidays"???).

If that's correct, we can look forward to an OS6 refresh for the holidays and then an LTE Storm 3 announced in Q1 and shipped in Q2 2011...where it will also get to market closer to the time of the iPhone refresh, which is why it would be the new "iPhone killer" (well, hoped to be at least).

It´s not a Storm3 - they say Odin!
Odin=Storm2
So, it`s a refresh model, which is able to run on OS6.
To make it more attractive it will also get a 5Mpix.cam

i remember CX made a comment in one of the threds about a couple weeks ago about the standards now are 1gz and we should see somthing for late march

nice

I've already decided to switch to the Droid X, as soon as Verizon gets more in.

Well that narrows it down to 3 months, I would love to see this phone in action, even if I don't even have Verizon.

Well that narrows it down to 3 months, I would love to see this phone in action, even if I don't even have Verizon.

I predicted a couple months ago that there would be a minor upgrade to the S2 in order to run OS6 with the S3 launching sometime next year. Looks like that is what they are doing. I just hope that there will be a version of OS6 for the current model, if for no other reason, the browser. I am willing to give up a few of my apps if I have to! I'm not going to buy another S2 though so late in it's cycle. For those still on S1 though this might be the ticket.

My money is on Novemeber release. Blackberry Storm 9530 was Nov 21 and Storm 2 9550 was Oct 28.

I thought the new storm would have its own UI? Now it's Blackberry 6.0? Can anyone clarify? Still disappointed in the memory offering, I would have hoped for 1 GB to be more competitive with Droid. Everything else I expected.

LOL @ Strictly Confidential in the top right. Whoops

With my Storm2 contract, looks like I'll be waiting on the Storm4.

Mobile Hot Spot!? yes please and thank you very much RIM. I think my anticipation for the slider has just been replaced. Hope We see this out by September.

1. Brand spankin new blackberry comes out with all new features and hardware.

2. Resist the temptation to purchase and save your upgrade for:

3. The same brand spankin new blackberry with "minor improvements" the way it should have come out in the first place a few months later.

4. Sit back and read the forums of all the angry blackberry users who are locked in a contract with a phone that may or may not be able to take advantage of RIM's new features on your new device.

when will they exceed 1gb?... So tired of being careful of what I install...

Well I'm gonna admit I jumped ship for the DroidX, BUT after two days took it back. Still love my BB. Just what I wanted to hear bout storm 3. Gonna wait for Storm 3.

you've lost your chance RIM... screwing all us storm1 owners over dosen't mean we will go back to you.

I've lost all trust in RIM and will toss the phone as soon as the droid2 comes out...

This is no greater leap than a 9700...the Storm is THE touch screen phone for RIM you have to make is ready to dual with the touch screen market ...which right now is no joke.

SMH...

Makes sense, some reports said the Storm3 wasn't going to be anything special and that there would be a Storm4 that was gonna be all that and then some not too long after.
All I can say is this proves to me that RIM has gone the way of the macedonian dow dow bird... goodbye RIM, its been a slice, hello Apple iPhone 4.

I know it's early and this is probably not even worth saying but if RIM doesn't at least spec this phone comparably to all the others I'm done with RIM for good. The Droids are killing the Storm in all areas. 8MP cameras, HD video, stupid fast processors. PLEASE tell me that this is a joke. 512 app memory, 5mp camera..... NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!
And what happens when LTE from VZW and 4G from the others comes around year end??? I didn't see any mention of 4G compatibility did you??

Just my 2 cents, but if you look at the numbers RIM is losing it's touch screen customers faster than kids after the school bell.

Sad really.

I hope this is not the Storm3.
If it is, I have another good reason to look at other devices when my contract is up.

I wish RIM would hire some designers from HTC so I can get my Touch pro type of blackberry!!

If the Storm3 doesn’t have at least a 1GHz processor and 480 x 800 pixel screen I’ll be extremely disappointed. A 5 megapixel camera is ok but it should be at least 8 megapixels in order to be competitive. If RIM wants to compete with the touch screen Android devices from HTC, Motorola and Samsung, they’d better start making devices with better specs. RIM should ask themselves why did Verizon customers get so excited about the Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid X before they were released. It’s because the specs were very impressive when they were announced. When the Motorola Droid came out in Nov 2009 it had better specs than the iPhone 3Gs (which was the current iPhone at that time) and all the available Blackberries. The HTC Droid Incredible and Motorola Droid X are even better which both have 1 GHz processors and 8 megapixel cameras. RIM is losing the mindshare of consumers and that is already translating into a loss of marketshare.

Nothing in that screen shot to make me think any different.

What do I think? I think Verizon is gonna rape their BB customers for very very expensive tethering fees.

So if I have this right.... if they release a Storm 2 refresh this year instead of Storm 3, that means that they're going to miss the cycle for the device and create a new cycle for it.

Then history is just going to repeat themselves. If they released the Storm 2 Refresh in November 2010 and then release Storm 3 in Q1 2011, people will be pissed. Remember the Tour debacle? Same thing... oh gawd RIM....

"Those who forget history are likely to repeat it..."

BerryGuy, people are already pissed. They clearly can't get the phone out this year or they would (look at how all the devices coming out now are evolutionary rather than revolutionary), and they can't very well wait till winter 2011. By announcing it as one of the first LTE phones at least they will be able to get a whole new leash on life in terms of marketing, "hawtness", and image for the BlackBerry line. Everyone here is (or should be) informed, so it's not like anyone has to pull the trigger early on the S2 refresh to get OS6 unless they want to.

Don't get me wrong, I jumped ship last week, but I truly hope RIM can make the S3 compelling enough to bring me back in the spring.

If we all recall the Storm was codename Thunder, and the Storm2 was codenamed Odin. The codenames on this device doesn't match if it were a new device. RIM doesn’t release a new device without a new codename, regardless of the phone name or series.

This is exactly what is says a refresh. This is the Storm2.
I agree with Sal and the specs of the Storm3 and the fact that it will run LTE because it makes more sense, this device on the other hand does not at all.

It honestly seems to me that RIM is pushing the news about these mediocre devices the slider and the flip, with videos and supposed “leaks” to shadow the fact the new revolutionary Storm3 is being completed. Or is already?

The only problem is...

RIM WE ARE GETTING IMPATIENT. AND MANY OF US ARE GOING TO LEAVE. Especially when we see devices like this and frown.

LOL,
current S2 owners won't get OS6.
so sad. RIM has new refresh. RIM want's to milk customers for sake of new os. let's see what this new os has so special.

Looks to me this is going to be a touch screen rather than a capacitive screen...

S2 with
Double ram
WiFi /n
better camera
minus the click screen?????

This device actually makes sense even if it doesn't appeal to the spec obsessed, LTE isn't a very realistic addition to handsets this year, but VZW will want a couple of os6 blackberry in the shops in time for christmas so they get an s2+ now and 6 months down the line you get s3 with lte support when they are ready to move onto lte handsets and not just lte modems.

As far as older devices not getting os6, that isn't sure from such refresh devices, it might just mean that it is sub-optimal on the 256mb devices or they won't get a full version.

One thing to note about devices getting memory upgrades so far, the 9650 got one and the 9100 didn't despite them being released at the same time so the 512mb thing might just be more needed on the cdma devices since we know they use different chipsets for their cdma and gsm devices.

I don't believe these are the complete specs for the storm 3. A different source says the the S3 will have 512MB-1GHz of flash memory and a 1 GHz processor. I just don't see RIM neglecting to upgrade the processor considering how the storm 2 is the slowest running modern BB on the market right now.

Is this a joke? Is it April fools day?
I really have to wonder if engadget can be trusted. They've dropped the ball too many times for my liking. *Sigh*

If this really is true, then RIM is further behind the development curve than anybody previously thought. They must be desperate to release OS 6 on any suitable hardware, if this is to be believed.

I really don't want to believe this. This has got to be a joke... a really sick joke.

A vast majority of people do NOT even use the full capabillites of a cell phone. Whether it be an IPHONE or BB or DROID. As long as it is quicker in processing information thats all people seem to care about. Now I know there are people out there that hack and manipulate their phones to get max performance out of it, heck I even did that. But my point is that most people just use it for texting, surfing and some non useful apps.

I just upgraded to a Storm 2 a couple of months ago but if i have to pay extra for a Storm Refresh to run 6.0 I will.

I just want the weather app. from HTC desire....man its slick!! what ever the weather, your whole screen becomes a moving picture(ie. if its raining, raindrops and wipers appear on screen/thunder storm, with clouds rolling in from the sides/wind blowing leaves across the screen). It is such an interactive phone too...but we won't see it here for another year anyway. SO BB!! Steal some technology from these other companies, and use it for our phones!!

hey guys and girls,

i just went to a shop in my hometown in Belgium,
and i was asking about the storm 3, and he said, i don't know when it is coming out, but he could see it in his order system, but couldn't order it just yet, so release of the storm 3 is coming to!

Kind regards Davy

Verizon will NOT be carrying the Storm refresh - Looks like Verizon just made my choice for me, Droid it is.