It seems that Verizon Wireless won't be the only mobile phone carrier to release the BlackBerry Tour on its airwaves on July 12, as Sprint is getting ready to make exactly the same move. Although previously the carrier announced that the new BlackBerry device would come to its customers later this summer, it seems that later has become sooner and the phone will hit its shelves 10 days from now.

The handset has attracted a wide range of carriers on its side lately, and it seems that Sprint and Verizon will run head-to-head to gain subscribers with the new world phone from Research In Motion. At the same time, we should also note the fact that the device is expected to hit Canada on July 17, while becoming available for purchase in the country via both Telus and Bell.

And since we are in the Tour's courtyard, we should also mention the fact that Verizon, which already listed the device for pre-order on its website, won't allow those who are upgrading to pre-order the phone. “Pre-orders not available for upgrade orders at this time” is what the carrier says on its website. At the same time, it also announced that pre-ordered units should start shipping on July 13.

Not great news for some of the operator's customers, it seems, yet they will also be able to upgrade after the release, most probably. In the meantime, you can check out the unboxing gallery that BGR has recently made available. As for the first impressions on the device, is seems that the exterior design is ready to impress, though earlier images already showed that, we might add. BGR reveals that the phone comes with a BlackBerry leather holster, and also shows the dark chrome bezel that can be spotted on the BlackBerry Onyx. Hit this link for the gallery.