Sprint Nextel announced that it will carry the new BlackBerry Tour launched today by Research In Motion (RIM).
The new smartphone will sell for $199.99 with a new two-year service agreement and $50 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate. The new BlackBerry comes on the heels of Sprint's recent exclusive launch of the iPhone-like Palm Pre.
With the dual-mode Tour, CDMA customers can connect to networks internationally through support for 3G (EV-DO Rev A.) networks in North America, and 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100 Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.
The BlackBerry Tour includes the usual full-qwerty keyboard, a 3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording, GPS, expandable memory via hot swappable micro SD/SDHC memory card slot, Bluetooth (2.0), but no Wi-Fi.
A press release from RIM states the Tour will be available from “carriers in North America later this summer,” indicating Sprint’s contract with the OEM may not be exclusive. RIM was not available for comment before press time.
The announcement from Sprint and RIM today comes amid a flurry of handset unveilings and launches here and abroad. In the last two weeks, Palm and Apple have both made news with the launch of new smartphones.
Palm launched the highly anticipated Palm Pre on the Sprint network. Two days later, Apple launched the iPhone 3G S with AT&T, and dropped the price of the 3G to $99. Meanwhile, Samsung launched a handful of new smartphones yesterday, adding to its Omnia line and introducing the Samsung Jet and a 12 megapixel camera phone called the Pixon 12.