BlackBerry Storm3 Could Debut this Summer

New information has emerged on the BlackBerry Storm3, the next generation of RIM's touchscreen-only smartphones for business users. Previous reports have indicated that this model will be released later in the year, but a new leak gets more specific.
This device will be the follow-up to the original Storm, which debuted in 2008. Its successor came a year later, but when the Storm3 didn't arrive by the end of 2010, some had begun to wonder if RIM had abandoned this form factor. Especially after the company announced that the Storm2 won't get an upgrade to BlackBerry OS 6.0.
Nevertheless, the company is still committed to this product series, if a roadmap of upcoming BlackBerry models that has leaked out is legitimate. According to it, the Storm3 is set to be released at some point in the July to August time period.
Which carriers will be offering this smartphone is not yet known, but the only U.S. carrier to offer the earlier Storm models is Verizon.
Preliminary Overview of the BlackBerry Storm3The next-generation Storm will reportedly have a larger, higher-resolution touchscreen than its predecessors: 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 pixels. An optical touchpad also appears in the images of this smartphone.
According to the specifications that have leaked out, it will run BlackBerry OS 6.1 on a 1.2 GHz processor.
There are conflicting reports on its amount of RAM and storage capacity, though. One says it will include 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of storage, while another says 768 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage.
The Storm3 will supposedly be a worldphone with support for CDMA and GSM networks, including 3G. In addition, it will have Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, and a GPS receiver.
Other features will include a microSD memory card slot as well as a 5 megapixel camera with Flash and 720p video recording.
The BlackBerry Storm3 reportedly has the code-name 'Monaco'.
A Drive Toward TouchscreensThis model is just one of several upcoming BlackBerrys with touchscreens that have recently appeared in unconfirmed reports.
RIM us supposedly working on the BlackBerry Curve Touch, a consumer-oriented model that will be smaller than the Storm3 but have the same general design. This could be the first Curve model to forgo a physical keyboard.