RIM Confirms that the BlackBerry Tour 9650 Is On the Way

RIM has not yet officially announced the BlackBerry Tour 9650, but that didn't stop it from mentioning this upcoming smartphone on its Facebook page.

The post was removed after a few hours, but what it said was:

The BlackBerry Tour 9650 is coming! Check back soon for official news!

This could be an attempt by RIM''s marketing department at getting some ''buzz" started about this model before the unveiling.

A Preliminary Overview of the BlackBerry Tour 9650
Even though the BlackBerry Tour2 has not yet been announced, a great deal of information has already leaked out.

One of the most significant changes in this upcoming model, the 9650, will be an optical trackpad in place of the trackball on the current version.  This shouldn't surprise anyone, as RIM has been putting trackpads on virtually all its recent models.

In addition, the Tour2 will supposedly have a faster processor than the original, though the exact speed is not yet known.

Almost Twins
Aside from these changes, the next smartphone in this series will apparently be identical to its predecessor.

As such, this BlackBerry will reportedly have a tablet shape, with an HVGA (480 x 360) display and full-QWERTY keyboard.

It will include mobile broadband, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

The Tour2 will will have a 3.2 MP camera, microSD memory card slot, and a GPS receiver.

Release Date Unknown
At this point, it''s not known when the BlackBerry Tour2 will be available, or what carriers will be offering it. So far, the only carrier that has been linked to it is Sprint.

The original debuted  this summer in the U.S. at $200 with a two-year service agreement and mail-in rebate -- it''s possible this second model will cost the same.

Source: Facebook