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
Read more
BlackBerry UK take the Z10 on tour
Here in the UK, BlackBerry are in full swing with their Z10 marketing, but the next few weeks will see them step things up a notch as the Z10 is going on tour. BlackBerry will be setting up stands in a selection of shopping centres (malls) up and down the country in a bid to show off the wonderful new Z10 and generate some extra interest from shoppers. And who can blame them as...
Official OS v5.0.0.1062 for BlackBerry Tour 9630 released by China Mobile
China Mobile released official OS v5.0.0.1062 this weekend for you lucky BlackBerry Tour owners so fire up Desktop Manager and get to upgrading. Even though this is an official OS, be sure to use caution and do a back-up before installing. And if you're not on China Mobile, make sure you delete that vendor.xml file. Thanks to everyone that sent this in! Download OS v5.0.0.1062 for the...
Leaked OS 5.0.0.1041 for the BlackBerry Tour 9630
BlackBerry Tour owners have kind of been left in the dark when it comes to OS leaks. But, today ends that drought. OS 5.0.0.1041 has just sprung up for all you Tour owners who are looking for a new OS. We don't have to tell you this but we will anyways, it's a leaked OS so be sure to back up your data before loading it up. Also, be sure to drop some comments here or in the CrackBerry...
Official OS 5.0.0.1030 for the BlackBerry Tour 9630 now available from Sprint
Still clinging to that Tour 9630? Looking to upgrade your OS? Well you're in luck. Sprint has released OS 5.0.0.1030 for the taking. Its not quite OS 6 (you'll need to upgrade to a Bold 9650 for that) but its an update none the less. If you're on a different carrier just delete the vendor file after installing and have at it. No word of the new and good yet, so be sure to jump into the...