According to The Boy Genius, the forthcoming touchscreen BlackBerry now has a name (or just a codename?). To be known as the BlackBerry Thunder (model number 9500 although that could still change), it will be released in Q3 this year.
The BlackBerry Thunder will not come with a QWERTY keyboard. Instead, there will only be four keys below the large touchscreen. The buttons will be the send and end call keys, the BlackBerry menu key and the Back key.
The Boy Genius also reports that the BlackBerry Thunder will be a hybrid device supporting both both CDMA and GSM connectivity. Interestingly, it would support CDMA EV-DO Rev. C (also known as UMB or Ultra Mobile Broadband). To date, Verizon does not operate a UMB network so either Verizon is not telling us something or the rumours are incorrect.
Even more interesting is the report that Verizon and Vodafone will share a lifetime exclusive. Verizon will have the exclusive as long as sales targets are being met. It’s not clear if Vodafone will also have such goals to meet.
Hopefully there will be more information soon to shed light on this…