Even though RIM and Verizon have yet to officially announce the BlackBerry Tour there are signs that an announcement and release of the device are in the not too distant future. A tipster over on Engadget Mobile has found that if you try to visit the webpage vzw.com/tour you are automatically redirected to http://estore.vzwshop.com/bbtour.
The redirect is a dead link, however, it does stand to reason that if Verizon is going through the trouble to redirect you to a site where you presumably would be able to buy a BlackBerry Tour once it does become avaialble, that availability of said device probably isn’t too far around the corner.
The much anticipated BlackBerry Tour 9630, formerly known as the BlackBerry Niagara, is rumored to hit Verizon shelves sometime in mid-July. We aren’t sure which exact day it will launch… There are credible rumors stating that the Tour’s release date will be the 13th, the 15th, or the 17th so we will just cover our bases and say that the BlackBerry Tour will launch the week of the July 13th.
[Via BGR]
Word on the street is that the BlackBerry 9630 code name “Niagara” will actually be called the BlackBerry Tour. We don’t actually have official confirmation just yet, the fact that both www.blackberrytour.com and www.blackberry9630.com were both registered on the same day and point to the same IP address seems like pretty compelling evidence.
Word on TheStreet.com is that the BlackBerry Niagara 9630 could ship on Verizon in May.
There has been recent speculation regarding the timing of the Niagara’s arrival at Verizon. This is of no small concern for Wall Street observers who see the arrival as a potential last-minute enhancement to RIM’s May quarter performance.
The timing of a May release of the BlackBerry Niagara couldn’t be better for Verizon. The BlackBerry Storm has been the number one smartphone selling on the nation’s most reliable network, however, sales are starting to taper off and it has been over a year since Verizon introduced its last full QWERTY keyboarded BlackBerry, the Curve 8330.
The BlackBerry Niagara will be viewed as an upgrade to the the Curve, which has not only been the best selling BlackBerry, but the best selling smartphone in the US since the month after the iPhone 3G came out last year. If the Niagara isn’t delayed and actually comes out in May, it could be a big way to close the quarter for both Verizon and Research in Motion.
[Via Engadget Mobile]
The first pictures of the the CDMA BlackBerry Niagara 9630 have hit the web courtesy of CrackBerry.com. It looks to be just slightly larger than the BlackBerry Curve 8900 but considerably smaller than the BlackBerry Bold. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these.
