According to reports in today's Wall Street Journal and on CNBC, pesky Research In Motion (RIM) plans to introduce a touch-screen version of its BlackBerry to thwart the challenge posed by the popularity of Apple's iPhone. (And no wonder we are seeing so many RIM TV ads ...)
Apparently dubbed the Thunder, the new BlackBerry is among RIM's strongest moves so far to appeal to the increasing number of consumers jumping for multimedia phones, a market that is increasingly turning to touch-screen devices for their ease of use (and cool factor). Easy integration with iTunes and the iPhone's sophisticated touch-screen were key features that made the iPhone such a big hit.
Slated for introduction in the third quarter, the Thunder will be sold exclusively through Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe. Verizon Wireless's main rival, AT&T, is the iPhone's exclusive distributor (sadly) in the U.S.
(Thanks to The Boy Genius Report for the photo!)
Technorati
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Digg
twitter
![aas_mwc_nokia_n78[1].jpg](http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/assets_c/2008/06/aas_mwc_nokia_n78[1]-thumb-150xauto-2473.jpg)
I can't wait for the touch-screen Blackberry!!! I have a blackberry in T-mobile but it sucks. I can't even take a video with it. its soo dumb. My parents paid like almost 200 dollars for my blackberry. I feel so bad. I want to get the touch-screen Blackberry for christmas because i think its so cool to have a phone that you can actually touch it with your finger. The person that made this phone is a genies. I think it would be a lot better if they have the touch-screen Blackberry in T-Mobile because most people have T-mobile than Verizon Wireless.
I've had a change to try this phone and suffice to say it is so slow that it is almost useless. I can't believe it shipped and found it incredibly difficult to do text entry, scroll menus, and browse the web. Really a slow device and the touch (click) screen is not very helpful for the overall UX. It in facts seems to click a lot without actually making a selection, so the click feedback is essentially useless.