Gizmodo: 9500

BlackBerry Storm Can Cut and Paste, Multitouchily

John Herrman — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:30:00 EDT

If browsing through the leaked PowerPoint and User Guide showing how to sync your contacts or, you know, send an email didn't get your heart pumping, BGR has found a punchier little feature that might. RIM's documentation indicates that multitouch (!!) cut and paste functionality will be built into the Storm's software, something that Apple has been stubbornly disinterested in. Hopefully BlackBerry is saving more multitouch announcements for later. [BGR]

Touchscreen BlackBerry Storm First Live Shots

matt buchanan — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:24:48 EDT

The burning question answered by these pics from CrackBerry: What does the touchscreen BlackBerry's keyboard look like? As rumored, landscape gets you full QWERTY, while portrait mode drops you to SureType to squeeze in all the buttons. It's straightforwardly utilitarian—taking up a massive amount of screen real estate, it definitely lacks in the glitz department. Here's a shot of the SureType keyboard:

CrackBerry also reiterates the past bit that it'll be a glass multi-touch screen with dual tactile feedback—it pushes in just a bit like a giant button and has localized haptics (it vibrates where you push it). However, the BlackBerry button will still be in heavy use to navigate around the OS. No further info on the delayed/not delayed spat, or on the name. We've heard that its carrier name is actually Storm. [CrackBerry]

Touchscreen BlackBerry Thunder Is BlackBerry 9500, Has Higher Res Screen Than iPhone

matt buchanan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:01:16 EDT

A bit more tricklage on RIM's "Apple Killer," the touchscreen BlackBerry Thunder: The official model number is the BlackBerry 9500, and the touchscreen is a bit higher res than the iPhone's (360x480 to 320x480). It'll be running OS 4.7.0 (the Bold runs 4.6). As we inch closer to the September release date expect to hear a lot more, since RIM's ship ain't exactly the tightest one on the seven seas. [BlackBerry News]

Touchscreen BlackBerry Thunder Coming Exclusively to Verizon?

Adam Frucci — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT

While yes, the BlackBerry Bold is a pretty slick looking update to the hallowed BlackBerry line, it still sports a physical keyboard — clearly a quaint remnant of smartphones from a bygone era. What the people want these days are touchscreens, beautiful, difficult to use touchscreens. And that's just what RIM is going to deliver with the BlackBerry Thunder.

The Boy Genius has a bunch of new details on the upcoming touchscreen BlackBerry, including the interesting tidbit that it'll be a lifetime exclusive on Verizon in the US and Vodafone in Europe. It'll have a mere four physical keys and will run on 3G EV-DO Rev. C as well as GSM HSPA for international use. No word on when this thing is going to drop, or whether or not anyone who uses a Blackberry will allow a physical QWERTY keyboard to be pried from their grip, but we'll keep you updated.

Oh, and that image above is merely a mock-up of what a touchscreen BlackBerry might look like, not an actual product rendering.

"Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder?" [Boy Genius]