BlackBerry Thunder 9500 seems to become the first touchscreen smartphone in RIM's 9000 series. According to Wall Street Journal, the Canadian manufacturer will be offering the BlackBerry 9500 on Verizon Wireless and Vodafone networks, exclusively. Vodafone has a track record of getting BlackBerry smartphones exclusively in Europe, and an exclusive agreement will obviously also cause extra buzz for Verizon Wireless. The BlackBerry Thunder 9500 is scheduled to hit store shelves in the third quarter of 2008, most likely in September. According to Wall Street Journal, the BlackBerry Thunder 9500 will ship with 3G support like the recently introduced BlackBerry Bold, but it's not currently known whether HSDPA and EV-DO versions will be released simultaneously. RIM has also worked hard to improve the battery life of its 9000 series of smartphones, which is kind of reassuring. Just like the BlackBerry Bold, the RIM BlackBerry Thunder should come with a 624 MHz processor, which should be powerful enough to handle multitasking at least. What kind of graphical user interface the BlackBerry 9500 will be using is not yet known, but it will likely be a version of its recently introduced upgrade found in the BlackBerry Bold. It would at least be quite a feat for RIM if they've been able to come up with two completely different user interfaces in two years, at the same time as for instance Microsoft has been working on its own Windows Mobile 7 interface. Since the latest incarnation of RIM's platform supports document editing, the BlackBerry 9500 could end up matching heavy-weights like the AT&T Tilt. However, that really depends on how RIM has chosen to design the BlackBerry 9500. It would have been cool to see a BlackBerry 9500 with a slide-out QWERTY thumbboard and a significantly larger screen with landscape mode than the standard 2.5-inch 65K screen we are used to. On the other hand, if the RIM BlackBerry Thunder 9500 turns out to be an all-touch smartphone coming after the iPhone, we at least hope that the Canadian manufacturer will come up with some multimedia services and a decent memory bundle too, as Verizon Wireless' Get It Now interface and "no accessories included" policy aren't exactly a true multimedia smartphone worthy. Nevertheless, since both the Curve and the Bold have a stronger multimedia focus than other recent full-QWERTY phones by RIM, we assume the BlackBerry Thunder 9500 will walk down the multimedia road some way or another. Like the BlackBerry Bold, the RIM BlackBerry Thunder 9500 will most likely also get GPS services. According to Wall Street Journal, RIM has also been working on improving the browser experience, but we don't know whether that's specific to the BlackBerry 9500 or a comment on the recently released platform in general. The BlackBerry Thunder 9500 will be available on Verizon Wireless and Vodafone networks in Q3 2008, and will most likely cost around $400 with a two-year contract.
Sweet! I didn't think that the Thunder would be here that soon. I wonder what will the price be 18 months when bigger and better things come out. I hope I can play with a keyless phone just to get a feel for the phone....
Yup, But i don't like the hole CDMA thing, or you have to order it from Vodafone and unlock it:thumbsdow
Thats ok more for me lol. Anyways you know if things go like they are supposed to the whole I dont like CDMA or GSM thing wont be valid because it should all be LTE lol.
WOW!! Very interesting. Well my "new after 2" will let me choose a new phone in February of 2009. So if this is available through Verizon by then I will be sure to check it out.
Blackberry Thunder Boxed - check out this link. Looks like it will come with an 8gb SD card pre-installed SWEEET!! If you hear Thunder, a Storm is coming… | BlackBerryNews.com
Well nothing has been mentioned by RIM as of yet at CTIA. Word on the street is that we will probably hear about it at the 1st ever RIM / BB Developers Conference next month. Fingers crossed.
Official - Kind of, link to Storm info on Verizon's web site, or should I say a place where you can submit you e-mail address for storm updates. BlackBerry Storm
Interesting, I like the idea of the flip out keyboard, and the other day I was talking to a Verizon Blackberry Tech support guy and told him I liked the new thunder coming out, but was not so sure I would like the touch screen keyboard. Without hesitation he said it will have a flip out keyboard. Rumor I know, but I like the idea, and kind hope it does.
I agree PaulMac. I hadn't thought much about a slider concept until I seen that article, combined with the upcominhg release of the T-Mobile G1 Dream for the Google Andriod OS. I know from what I have read in forums that a slider keyboard is like a full touch - Ya love it or hate it. I myself have never owned a BB or smart phone and this will be my first venture. So I have no preference to a full Qwerty or slider or touch, let alone which OS I favor. I have no previous preference. I have handled all I have mentioned thru friends and stores and have an idea of what "I think I would like". All in all though, exciting times are ahead. I think Q4 2008 and going into 2009 will be great for consumers. Even though cell phone sales are down, smart phone sales are up overall. Apple has raised the bar at a perfect economic time. Not only have the other manufacturers started to put out better products. I believe that as the American consumer is being forced to look at their fewer disposable cash dollars more closely, "they" the Apples & Microsofts & RIM's of the world will put together the best possible package they can to attract our consumer loyalty, which brings those hard earned dollars.
