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Watch out iPhone, there’s a Storm on the horizon. Soon to be released by Verizon, the Blackberry Storm just may give the popular iPhone a run for their money.

Originally rumored to be called the “Thunder,” the name became the more powerful “Storm.” And the name just may fit. The device features a 3.2 megapixel camera that takes both stills and video (the iPhone’s 2.0 megapixel camera can’t do video unless you jailbreak it). The Storm also has turn-by-turn navigation (nope, iPhone doesn’t).  Want to swap out batteries? The device formerly known as the Storm has a removable battery (sorry, iPhone. We know your users have to go to Apple). 

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Just when we all thought the the new BlackBerry Thunder is not yet ready for primetime due to some issues in its key features, here comes some new live photos of the mobile phone courtesy of CrackBerry.com. Based on what we can see from the photos, it looks like the Thunder is already to roll any day now, as it is said to be a working unit.

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The eagerly anticipated BlackBerry Thunder seems to need a little more time, according to a tipster from within RIM, the Thunder is not even close to hitting the market.

“Thunder is in no way shape or form market-ready. If Bold was any indication, Thunder won’t be ready for at least another 4-5 months.”

It looks like there are a bunch of issues with some important and key features. Just to begin with it looks like the keyboard is horrible to actually use and the accelerometer works, but has a tendency to go “bonkers” when the device is moved in certain ways. In addition the UI is apparently slow and lags with the haptic feedback also showing some problems.

Just to give you an idea of just how bad the Thunder is in its current state, the tipster went on to mention that “most of the people who have handled it thinks it’s a joke.”

Well, at least in its current state the Thunder is not going to steal any thunder from Apple, AT&T and the iPhone 3G. Lets just hope they get the issues worked out and in the hands of those waiting Verizon customers soon.

Via [BGR]

That’s right folks, some new exclusive shots of the upcoming Blackberry Thunder, which is officially called the BlackBerry 9500 have been leaked. The new BlackBerry 9500 will feature a large 360 x 480 touchscreen display and we also found that it will allow users to buy songs from their device via a mobile music store similar to iTunes. It is also expected to be running OS 4.7.

In addition, this new BlackBerry will also boast of a portrait media player that would be perfect for watching movies and videos while you are on the move. We’ll keep an eye for more developments, but in the meantime keep reading to check out a few more images.

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The Blackberry Thunder which we reported before as RIM’s newest Blackberry device now has an official name, the Blackberry 9500. And like we told you, it shall be officially carried with Verizon as a lifetime exclusive offering which will support high-speed HSPA and EV-DO networks. In addition to Verizon, reports had it that it will also hit the Vodafone network.

Now for some exciting new information, we also found out that the Blackberry 9500 will have a touchscreen LCD display at 360x480 resolution. What makes this LCD special? It is surprisingly bigger than the LCD display of iPhone. So, you can safely say that it is also being geared up to compete with the iPhone 3G. In addition, the Blackberry 9500 is said to come with OS 4.7.0.

We’ll definitely keep an eye for more updates on the new Blackberry 9500.

Via [Blackberry News]

Now that the iPhone 3G news is beginning to settle in, we are starting to get more and more non-Apple related news, with that comes a few additional details about the upcoming BlackBerry Thunder.

To begin with, there are two things to keep in mind; first, this information is still unconfirmed so its likely to change and second, the name Thunder is just a code name which will change in time.

Moving on we are hearing more chatter that the Thunder is still on track for Verizon and expected to become available during Q3 of this year. Other features are rumored to feature the SIM card slot and a microSD card slot under the battery, and that it will offer support for CDMA 1x, EV-DO, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSPA.

Via [BGR]

The upcoming BlackBerry Thunder finally has a live shot, and while it does not cover all the internal specs, it does give us a good idea of what we have in store for us on the outside. Aside from the large touchscreen display, the Thunder has just about all the convenience (button-wise) as any current BlackBerry model. From the image we can see it has the standard send, end/power, menu and escape keys that you would expect. It also has a lock key in the upper left, a play/pause key on the upper right, as well as a left and right convenience key and external volume controls. It also clearly confirms that it will be headed to Verizon—at least initially. 3G iPhone who?

Via [BGR]

Just yesterday we learned that we could expect the BlackBerry Bold to be available with AT&T in July and Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile following in September, now it looks like RIM will not be satisfied with just one hot new handset hitting the market.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the upcoming and still un-pictured full touchscreen BlackBerry Thunder will be hitting the market in Q3 2008, which would mean that it would be September at the latest. Assuming this time frame is accurate it would seem as if RIM really wanted to make a big statement and lasting impression on the mobile community. Now if we could just get some more details and a real image of the Thunder, because while the Photoshop mock-up from BGR is nice, its just that, a mockup.

Read [Wall Street Journal] Via [Gizmodo]

So we’ve seen the Bold, seen that it will be in the same AT&T stable as the iPhone and at roughly the same price.  Brian Caufield, over at Forbes wrote a post today on “why Apple can’t kill the Blackberry.” In his post, Brian goes over the reason RIM is still in the fight is its back-end support.  His argument is the corporate folks need the infrastructure.  Brian misses it too.

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All due respect to RIM for coming up with a sleek and full-featured smartphone such as the BlackBerry Bold, but we couldn’t help feel shortchanged just a little as it doesn’t match up with the iPhone’s look and feel. So, it is but only natural to get excited over the latest rumor circulating around the BlackBerry name, the Thunder.

Yes dear readers, the group over at BGR are claiming that the latest smartphone from RIM has been codenamed the BlackBerry Thunder. And yes, this time, we just might be staring at the real iPhone killer. With its full touchscreen display and only four keys visible upfront - send/end keys, the BlackBerry menu key and the back key, the Thunder may well the next generation of what we can expect from RIM. Rumor has it that the BlackBerry Thunder will also be a worldwide lifetime exclusive on Verizon and Vodafone, so current AT&T subscribers still have plenty of time to think about shifting carriers before the Thunder arrives.

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