BlackBerry Tour hands-on, wild sibling confrontation with Curve and Bold

While some interesting things may or may not be happening under the hood, the freshly announced BlackBerry Tour for Verizon and Sprint (pictured in Verizon garb on the left) is hardly a departure on the surface. It mostly appears to be a minor modification to the Curve (right), though it does seem inexplicably thicker. The Bold seems positively overwrought in comparison. We didn't get much time to play with the OS, but the screen and the keyboard are pure new-generation BlackBerry charm.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2009 2:41PM]

If that thing had Wifi I would get it. :(

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2009 3:08PM]

First the Storm, now the Tour....does this mean Verizon is finally done with the hideous (in my opinion) silver BlackBerry phase?

[mmaestro Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:02PM]

Isn't the extra thickness due to the additional GSM radio they have to put in? I'd gotten the impression that that was why Verizon's Blackberrys tend to be so much chunkier.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:46PM]

I'm kinda liking the optical trackball idea of the Curve 8520. If it works the way I imagine it would it will completely eliminate the problem of sticky trackballs. Oh well, I'm sure the 9630 will be an awesome phone. It definitely looks sleek. And lack of 3G in the Curve is a real downer as well (and the whole T-mobile thing). When July comes around and (if) this phone drops it might be really tough to hang on to my Storm.

http://www.blackberry-tour.com/index.php?topic=98.0

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2009 10:45PM]

Don't know too many people know this but the tour is going have two versions with verizon. One camera and one non camera to replace the 8830

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 12:32AM]

Actually, while the Tour is a smidgen longer than the Curve, the Curve is thicker than the Tour. Sizes are listed on RIM's site.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 12:32AM]

Oh Crap. Disregard that last comment. You're comparing it to the 8900. My mind instantly jumped to the 8330 when I heard "Curve". Ooops!

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 3:14AM]

I realy like the design of Curve 8520 and if the OS is stable enought than definitively I'll want it (http://www.mobilityphones.com/mobiles/blackberry/)

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 3:15PM]

Was I the only one who thought the BB on the left had a cracked screen at first?