14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone carrier Sprint should add to its offering a new BlackBerry device before the end of the summer, namely the 9850, a full touch smartphone.
A recently leaked document showing the carrier's roadmap places the launch of this smartphone to August 21st, when it should arrive on shelves accompanied by another RIM handset, the BlackBerry Bold 9930.
What is interesting to note is that the BlackBerry 9850, which was spotted at large a few times before under the name of BlackBerry Touch, is now expected to arrive as Torch at Sprint.
Apparently, RIM would aim at merging the two brands, so as not to create too much confusion with them, the same as it did previously with the Tour branding, which was eliminated, and the latest device in the series became Bold.
The e BlackBerry Torch 9850, sporting the code name of Monaco, is expected to arrive at Sprint before the end of August, and might not include the physical buttons that were spotted on it in previous leaks.
The smartphone was spotted into the wild in a series of video tutorials, as well as in a leaked CDMA roadmap from RIM, and should have the GSM-enabled Dakota as its sibling.
The mobile phone was expected to be launched at the BlackBerry World conference several weeks ago, but RIM unveiled only one new handset at that time.
However, rumors on the possible specifications of this device did emerge, suggesting that it might sport a fast 1.2GHz CPU, along with a large 3.7-inch touchscreen display, which can boast a WVGA resolution.
The yet-unannounced handset should also sport a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with the possibility to record videos, and 4GB of internal memory, with a microSD card slot for expanding it through memory cards of up to 32GB.
3G connectivity would be included into the mix as well, along with WiFi capabilities and Bluetooth, and a built-in GPS receiver.
Provided that the rumor pans out, and Sprint is indeed set to launch the new device in August, it should not be too long before more info on this starts to emerge, so stay tuned.
