14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion was long rumored to be on its way to bring to the market a successor for the BlackBerry Storm devices, and it seems that this handset might be closer to release now, and that it would land on shelves with the company's BlackBerry OS 7 on board.
The upcoming smartphone is expected to sport a touchscreen display in a candybar form factor, and should be included in the company's Torch family of devices as the BlackBerry Torch 9860.
We already had the chances to have a look at this device, and now we learn that it has already received the necessary approvals from the FCC.
The Torch 9860 was spotted at the FCC with model numbers RDH71CW / RDP71UW / RDQ71UW attached to it, and info on the connectivity options it would arrive with on the market already emerged.
Apparently, GSM / EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2000 capabilities will be included with the phone that sports the moniker RDH71CW, which points at global capabilities.
The RDP71UW model was approved with support for WCDMA networks: quadband GSM / EDGE and WCDMA 850 / 1900 / 2100, which makes it a great fit for the airwaves of AT&T, Rogers, Bell, and / or Telus.
As for the RDQ71UW, it shows GSM / EDGE capabilities, along with WCDMA 1700 AWS, and 900 / 2100 bands for global use. This means that T-Mobile might carry it as well.
At the same time, we should note that what appears to be a BlackBerry OS 7-powered BlackBerry Torch 9850 has just made an appearance into the wild with support for Sprint's network.
Verizon is the carrier of choice when it comes to RIM's BlackBerry devices, but it seems that Sprint might have a piece of the upcoming handset as well.
Of course, the smartphone is not official as of now, and it also remains to be seen whether the Torch 9860 and Torch 9850 are connected in any way, so stay tuned for additional details on this.