BGR does it again. They’ve come up with live pics of the upcoming Verizon BlackBerry Thunder, Research in Motion’s first touchscreen BlackBerry.
I don’t know how I’ll like a touchscreen BlackBerry without a physical keyboard, however, I do know that I like that fact that the BlackBerry Thunder is coming out on Verizon first.
[Source]
This will certainly be the benchmark to see how a touchscreen BB matches up against the iPhone. The only downside for BB is the corporate customers it has on the GSM side that would be interested in this device. Doubt they’ll make a huge contract switch just for one phone.
How big of a deal is it that we are seeing BlackBerry Thunder pictures before we see a 3G iPhone?
I know we’ve seen plenty of pictures of what we believe to be a 3G iPhone, however, none of them have been what appears to be marketing slick from Apple.
I’m not surprised, and not sure if it’s really a bog deal or not. I really didn’t expect any difference in the shape of the new 3G iPhone, and Apple has only had tight lips on any releases, especially those that people anticipate. Meanwhile, RIM will leak pictures, models, etc. of phones that are due in 2020 (LOL). I guess it’s just the way the two companies decide to handle their product.
You don’t think it is a coincedence that the BlackBerry Thunder pictures were leaked the day before WWDC do you.
There’s no doubt that everyone will be talking about the 3G iPhone today but I bet many will be talking about the BlackBerry with the touchscreen today as well.
How long do you think that it will be before RIM officially anounces this? I’ve been thinking about getting a 3G iPhone but would think about this because I am already with Verizon.
I don’t think that it is a coincidence at all. Hype surrounding the iPhone will be huge today and with the BlackBerry being the market leader a lot of comparisons between the BlackBerry and the iPhone will be made.
With big time sites like Gizmodo and Engadget reporting on the BlackBerry Thunder pictures traditional news outlets will undoubtedly compare the BlackBerry most like the iPhone to the iPhone.
I say that this leak is perfect timing for RIM and I won’t be surprised if we see more pictures and maybe even here some news about the BlackBerry Thunder before weeks end.
I was thinking about getting the BlackBerry Bold because my 8700 is getting a bit long in the tooth. I might just hold for this though. Any idea when it is coming out on AT&T?
I, too, was guessing that RIM would release something before WWDC.
I would have liked to have seen a release date, too. It would be much easier to resist the iPhone 2.0’s siren call if I knew the Thunder had an release date more specific than 3Q ’08.
REV, I have a hunch that we are going to hear something, unofficial of course, very soon. This is a huge opportunity for RIM to get folks salivating over something new.
I Want One, the rumors floating around say that the BlackBerry Thunder will be exclusive to Verizon.
…not suprising that the thunder will be exclusive to vzw given that LTE is on the way and the altell merger (putting vzw back on top as king of the hill).
If this only comes out on Verizon won’t RIM be in the same boat as Apple is with the iPhone?
Back to the 3G iPhone…
I agree with the others. For RIM to release it just for vzw is totally stupid. I think T-Mobile sells more BB than vzw. And the overall service is outstanding. How many companies does vzw have to buy in order to stay on top on the game.
Well – the iphone was proposed exclusively to vzw FIRST! But since apple had to put a million conditions on it (wont go into details), vzw turn ’em down! BB’s got some conditions on it as well (such as a quota – if not met then they’ll open it to other carriers), but nowhere near as many as apple did.
Oh, and talking about ‘how many companies vzw has to buy in order to stay on top’ — well, didn’t ATT buy cingular to get on top — oh, and cingular merged/bought about a dozen companies to reach as big as they became!
I for one am dying to get my hands on the thunder … can’t be released quick enough!!!
Here are a few BlackBerry Thunder Pictures of the new media player.
If you realized 1)how pissed the VZW users are about VZW’s horribly slow release of the Curve and all other BB devices; and 2) how many businesses are VZW exculsive, you would realize that this is do or die for VZW.