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RIM Introduces the BlackBerry Tour Smartphone

by Kevin Michaluk on 16 Jun 2009 06:41 AM
38
 

Official Press Release

RIM Introduces the BlackBerry Tour Smartphone

New 3G World Phone Keeps You Connected on High-Speed CDMA Networks in North America and UMTS/HSPA Networks Abroad

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 16, 2009) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry(R) Tour(TM) - a powerful new 3G BlackBerry(R) smartphone for CDMA customers in North America. The new BlackBerry Tour smartphone offers state-of-the-art communications and multimedia capabilities with outstanding mobile performance and consummate styling. It is a feature-packed and highly refined world phone that keeps you connected and lets you tour the world in style.

"BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smartphone brand in North America and we are proud to add this powerful new 3G world phone to our successful product portfolio," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "With its striking design and exceptional performance, the new BlackBerry Tour will offer a compelling choice for the growing number of wireless customers looking to upgrade their existing cell phone to a smartphone."

The BlackBerry Tour smartphone allows customers to stay seamlessly connected - across town and around the world. It supports high-speed 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.

The BlackBerry Tour smartphone also provides the industry's leading mobile solution for email, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and social networking together with built-in GPS and advanced multimedia capabilities, enabling customers to make the most of both their personal and professional time.

The BlackBerry Tour features a chic black finish with chrome highlights surrounding its sleek design (112mm x 62mm x 14.2mm and 130g). It includes a large, highly tactile, full-QWERTY keyboard with chrome frets and finely sculpted keys for fast and precise typing. In addition, the large (2.44"), bright display (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi) delivers the highest resolution available on a BlackBerry smartphone, presenting pictures, web pages and videos with incredible clarity.

Other key features of the BlackBerry Tour smartphone include:

  • 3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording(i)
  • Full HTML web browser, including support for streaming audio and video (RTSP)
  • Advanced media player for videos, pictures and music, a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and support for the Bluetooth(R) Stereo Audio Profile (A2DP/AVCRP)
  • 256MB Flash memory
  • Expandable memory via hot swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot, supporting cards of up to 16 GB today and expected to support next generation 32GB cards when available
  • Built-in GPS with support for geotagging, BlackBerry(R) Maps and other location based applications and services
  • BlackBerry(R) Media Sync allows customers to quickly and easily synch music from iTunes(R) and Windows Media Player with the smartphone(ii)
  • Premium phone features including voice activated dialing, enhanced background noise cancellation, a low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals
  • Preloaded DataViz(R) Documents to Go(R), allowing users to edit Microsoft(R) Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset
  • Easy mobile access to Facebook(R), MySpace and Flickr(R), as well as popular instant messaging services including BlackBerry(R) Messenger, Yahoo!(R) IM, AIM(R), Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger(TM)
  • Support for BlackBerry App World(TM), featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. Categories include travel, productivity, entertainment, games, social networking & sharing, news & weather, and more
  • BlackBerry(R) Internet Service allows access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts
  • BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server provides advanced security and IT administration features within IBM(R) Lotus(R) Domino(R), Microsoft(R) Exchange and Novell(R) GroupWise(R) environments
  • Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery for 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time

The BlackBerry Tour smartphone (model number: 9630) is expected to be available this summer from carriers in North America.

For more information visit www.blackberry.com/tour

Filed Under: News & Rumors; Tags: BlackBerry Tour 9630, video
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38 Comments

Posted by anujsingh9 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

looks good

 
 
Posted by confettiBerry Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

can't wait to get my hands on it!

 
 
Posted by moe-blackberry Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

Looks sweet!

 
 
Posted by j.p.hatfield Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

can't wait!!!!

 
 
Posted by MisterAdam Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

I wish we getting this in the UK :(

 
 
Posted by 1jaxstate1 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

Good job I guess. Nothing special. Just bring on the update to the Bold.

 
 
Posted by raji.t Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

Is it just me, or doesn't that melody send shivers down your spine .... but what's the tour? its a 3G version of the 8900 plus CDMA. Woohoo.

 
 
Posted by xmvl001 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

when I visited the blackberry site and compared the tour to the storm and curve, it shows that the tour is wifi capable?? on verizon???

 
 
Posted by RadioDude Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

I don't see WIFI??? Why Not Verizon???

 
 
Posted by spenchey Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

FInallly!!!!!!!!

 
 
Posted by sterling_bandit Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

well hello tour... sexy bit on the side

 
 
Posted by mjbesen310 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

good bye storm! HELLO TOUR!!!!!!! very nice phone!

 
 
Posted by arhub Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

I also went and looked on RIMS site and it does in fact say that it has wifi, I wonder if it really does and if it will have wifi on verizon, even though the Tour's that some people have already gotten do not. Just have to wait and see I guess.

 
 
Posted by Delegator Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1074 days ago

OK, so it's got the same capabilities as the Storm, trading off screen size/touch screen for the keyboard. The on-board memory is skimpy at 256 MB, and the battery is nothing special at 1400 mAh.

Lack of wifi on CDMA phones is getting to be a real pain point, lack of Mac support for the desktop software is absurd, app prices are too high. The market has changed but the RIM segment seems not to have noticed. If I could get any AT&T coverage in northern New England I'd have switched.

A year ago this would have been something interesting. Now it's a stopgap at best.

 
 
Posted by sefiroh Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

No where in that official press release does it mention WIFI, which would be a major selling point. This was VZW's opportunity to not only make a nice splash but sway some people who were on the fence with this and the iphone 3GS. Oh well, looks like they blew it.......again

 
 
Posted by D_Mackdaddy Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

It does not say WI-FI on the Blackberry Tour webpage.

http://worldwide.blackberry.com/blackberrytour/tour_specifications.jsp

 
 
Posted by Tommytong Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I thought I read somewhere that they were suppose to release another version of it on VZW with Wifi. It would be awesome, but we might as well dream on huh?

 
 
Posted by gwtiff54 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I am about to wet my pants. Oh I can't wait. Sold my Storm 2 months for this baby. Can't wait to take the Tour on a tour.

 
 
Posted by xmvl001 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

wow RIM was fast to update the site - they took the WiFi OFF of the tour..... oh well......

 
 
Posted by BBsBlazed Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

PFFFFFFT...is what I say.

VZW customers are excited >> :D << because we're due!!
Storm = crap
Curve = outdated
Tour = perfect!

 
 
Posted by popcork Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I've been waiting for the final word on whether the Tour would have Wifi - they did a good job of keeping us in the lurch on that. Have been a loyal Verizon Wireless customer for ten years now - thats about to change. AT&T and the Bold - here I come.

 
 
Posted by mystichero06 Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 1072 days ago

no wifi on tour its a cdma issue i think mostly on RIM's part not reall verzions fault RIM sux at that btw i had a htc touch pro and i never used wifi i dot know why ppl make such a big deal maybe because im not around hotspots all day atleast not free ones and if i am i prefer to use a computer over a phone anyday but if u want wifi go gsm because cdma berries just dont have it yet. i guess wifi is a good trade off for crappy 3g i guess o wait lol only the bold has 3g on the worlds worse service (at&t no bars in more places)

 
 
Posted by John_5_24 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

Simply unbelievable to me that in this day and age they continue to leave WiFi off new devices. Incomprehensible.

 
 
Posted by ThatAnonymousGuy Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I'm not talking about whether the device SHOULD have it, but people are complaining about this when we knew MONTHS in advance that the device was not going to have Wi-Fi.

 
 
Posted by sbbytor Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

Why do so many people care about WIFI?

On Verizons network who needs it.

 
 
Posted by xDAKx Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

Because in many markets, Verizon's EvDo network is over-stretched, unreliable, and far overpriced in any sense. So having WiFi is really nice, plus it opens possibilities for things like UMA, even though Verizon is too slow and resistant to change to ever even consider something like that.

 
 
Posted by sbbytor Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I returned that piece of junk "Storm" in anticipation of this phone coming out and now the day it seems is nearing.

SWEEEETNESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH.

 
 
Posted by mystichero06 Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 1072 days ago

the tour is pretty much the guts of the storm with more app memory doesnt expect it to be that much faster unless rims programmers sux at making an os for touch screen so i would say expect the tour to perform like the storm with os .148 which is pretty fast cuz i guessing that you took your storm back before they gave it that .148 update if so then its night and day if u d/l .148 and u still thought it was crap then well i guess u should skip out on the tour because i doubt it will be much faster typing will be alot better because ppl hate sure press idk why i think its pretty neat and i can get about 70 wpm now lol but im used to it now lol

 
 
Posted by fjfisher601 Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

The Bold on ATT&T has many of the same features but also includes GSM by default- (the world standard)and also WIFI which is not supported by Verizon- no doubt they will disable it- so - shy would we NOT want to move to AT&T and instead play by Verizon's rules - why do business with a co that arrogantly ignores its customers by only giving us what they think we should have ?

Can someone tell me why I shouldn't move to AT&T when my contract runs out later this Month ?

 
 
Posted by mystichero06 Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 1072 days ago

lol you know verizon has phone that have wifi well no you dont because if u did u wouldnt have posted what u posted instead on blaming verizon for cdma berries not having wifi if its so important to you ask rim why cant they make a cdma berry that has wifi and as for the at&t thingy at&t sucks plain and simple and most people would get an iphone over the bold me included because just between me and you. bold's browser sucks. and unless you are around a free hotspot 24/7i i dont think i would pick at&t over anyone even t-mobile plus ive had phone with wifi and i never used wifi not even once and i have wifi at home its just verizons 3g loads up pages pretty fast and with 4g coming out soon whats the point of wifi then. i think wifi is a non issue unless you work underground or live in a cave

 
 
Posted by fjfisher601 Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 1071 days ago

Thanks for the comments- can't tell though- if AT&T sucks- why choose the Bold over Iphone at all- ? - and what Phine would you use on Verizon ?

 
 
Posted by smccloud Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I wish I knew how much the full MSRP for Sprint is. I just got my Curve a couple of months ago and I'm already wanting to trade it in for the Tour (but I have to pay full price until I can switch plans in Jan of next year).

 
 
Posted by tfadams Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

"Why so much excitement?"

For me, it's because Verizon's cell coverages is 100% better than AT&T's where I live and work.

 
 
Posted by longshot Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009 1073 days ago

I mean really, really stinks - dropped calls, call fail, etc, etc. Thats why I'm switching my corporate ATT service to VZN in August when my 2 yr. contract is up. FYI - there is an ETF even for large corporations.

And as soon as Alltel gets the Tour I'm signing up for another 2 yr. contract on my wife's phone.

Goodbye ATT -- did I say the service REALLY stinks in this area ?

 
 
Posted by BeeBopp Monday, Jun 22, 2009 1068 days ago

I've been a loyal vzw customer for years but I've waited long enough and still no wifi. Switching to att...

 
 
Posted by rizzzzoooo Monday, Jun 22, 2009 1068 days ago

Will this BB come pre-loaded with OS 5.0? Any word on that yet?

 
 
Posted by BerryBone Monday, Jun 22, 2009 1067 days ago

After reading this article, here is a great reason to have wi-fi. It isn't a necessity, however, it would be god to have that option.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/04/22/bluetooth-30-is-in-the-house-n...

 
 
Posted by mystichero06 Thursday, Jun 25, 2009 1064 days ago

well with the storm being pretty much fixed now and the tour coming out i guyss theres 2 berries and yes at&t does suck and yeah alot of people pick the iphone over the bold better apps hate to say it and the fact rims programmers suck and alot of their phones are pretty much the same though storm is the only thing that really stands out and well it gets bashed for rim sucking at programming for it and the fact its different go figure w/e