There was talk back in 2008 that RIM had begun work on an LTE BlackBerry. Given their two-year development cycle, it makes sense that we would see the fruits of their labour sometime near the end of this year, and from early rumours, the final product could be a doozy. Here’s what tipsters are saying we’ll see on the BlackBerry Storm 3, just take it all with a grain of salt:
- 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB storage
- LTE-capable, due for Verizon
- 5 megapixel camera
- SurePress, but with a new input mechanism
- Running a new OS, separate from 6.0 – will include widgets and lots of personalization
A lot of these specs sound way too good to be true, but right now iPhone and Android handsets are making current BlackBerrys look and feel dated by comparison; if RIM wants to properly compete, I would hope that everything listed above was true. Though the Storm 3 is currently using a Storm2 chassis among its small test group, my guess is the outside of the device will be updated for the launch to reflect the significant upgrade.
Analyst reports confirm that RIM is working on a Storm 3 and that they’re going with Synaptics for the touchscreen, but I’m really curious to see this new input mechanism. The jump from the original BlackBerry Storm 9530‘s SurePress clicking touchscreen to that on the BlackBerry Storm2 9550 was huge; it would be really awesome if RIM could make as big of an advancement in the next iteration. A lot of people still aren’t sold on the concept, though, and RIM will be accommodating those customers with a straight-up capacitive touchscreen in the Bold 9800.
Though BlackBerry themes have been able to do a lot offer a variety of user interfaces, home screen widgets are badly needed. We’ve seen screenshots of Concierge, an in-development project that seems like it could fit the bill, and with any luck, we’ll see it launch on the Storm 3.
[via Salomondrin]