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BlackBerry Storm 2 gets pictured early
We knew it was coming, and just like its relatives the Onyx and the Gemini, yet another unreleased model has managed to escape the confines of RIM's Waterloo headquarters. This time, however, it's the Storm 2, which we've heard has been internally codenamed "Oden." We've also caught wind that this model pictured is of the GSM flavor, and yes, it's indeed packing WiFi in addition to GPS according to one of our sources. As far as that rumored "new approach to text entry," it sounds like the keyboard has been tweaked but isn't a radical departure from the first generation. From the photos, it seems that RIM has advanced in the war on buttons and axed the bottom four in favor of some touch-sensitive controls. The real improvements, however, appear to be under the hood, as the whole device reportedly runs much faster and smoother than the current model. We can't confirm these specs, but with the Tour coming this summer, and the Storm 2 hopefully making an appearance before the holiday shopping season, looks like you Verizon BlackBerry fans might not have to be that jealous of your GSM brethren after all.
RIM CEO confirms a new Storm is brewing
It's not like we're surprised to hear this, but RIM CEO Jim Balsillie just told Reuters that the company is hard at work on a successor to the BlackBerry Storm. According to Jim, the consumer market is "large and untapped," and the current Storm is a "huge success in terms of sales and adoption." Sure, sure -- it's hard to scoff at a million units sold, after all -- but with rumors of an entirely new approach to text entry flying around, we'd say there's a good chance the Storm 2 doesn't so much build on the Storm formula as start over entirely. Thoughts?[Via PhoneScoop]
RIM (employee): Storm 2 with "new approach to text entry" for end 2009, early 2010
Reputable Dutch site Tweakers has Alain Segond von Banchet, RIM channel sales manager according to LinkedIn, stating that the BlackBerry Storm followup is scheduled to launch at the end of the year or at the beginning of next. In addition, he has the phone coming to KPN, not Vodafone who had the first generation Storm locked-up under an exclusive deal. Interestingly enough, Mr. Segond von Banchet says that the Storm 2 (not the final name) will "offer among other things a new manner to input text" -- among other things meaning WiFi, presumably, as we heard before. Keep in mind that channel sales managers do not typically represent a company to the press. Nevertheless, what he's saying does jibe with previous rumors and we have no doubt that RIM is working hard to avoid the universal disdain that greeted the Storm's mushy, push-button touchscreen input.Update: Tweakers responded telling us that Mr. Segond von Banchet was speaking on the record for RIM because there was no one from marketing at the TeleVisie 2009 Expo yesterday.
WiFi-equipped BlackBerry Storm 2 coming to Verizon in September?
Looks like you might be able to cross at least one bullet point off of your Storm 2 wishlist. According to unnamed source who SlashGear swears is the bee's knees, the successor to BlackBerry's touchscreen smartphone will add WiFi support for faster home / coffee shop web browsing. The informant hinted there's other surprises on the horizon but wouldn't give specifics, so for now you'll just have to keep dreaming about that SurePress touchscreen that doesn't slow down your texting. As for when we should expect the sequel, the report pointed to a release sometime in September on Verizon's network.
RIM said to be toiling away on BlackBerry super-phone, Storm successors
So the BlackBerry Storm hasn't even made it onto Verizon yet, and in flies word that RIM is actually doing something other than resting on its laurels (and contemplating buyout offers from Microsoft). The Boy Genius has it from two independent sources that RIM is currently hard at work on a "super-phone" of sorts, complete with a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, 1GB of memory and a "near-HD quality screen." In all seriousness, it's not too shocking to hear that the outfit is working up a formidable opponent to go against HTC's Touch HD / T8290, but it's not stopping there. We're also told that a second and third-generation Storm are already being whipped up in the design room, but it's pretty safe to say you won't be seeing those in the flesh for a good while. Regrettably, that's it for the details, but you can rest assured that we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.
