Despite heavy criticism, Research In Motion hasn’t given up on the Storm line of BlackBerry smartphones. Apparently, the company is currently testing a third version of the Storm, which sounds really interesting based on what’s we’re hearing from Salomondrin. For starters, it appears that device will not run BlackBerry OS 6. Instead, it will come with a different operating system of its own capable of running widgets and being highly customizable.
Additionally, the device will still feature SurePress. However, rumor has it that it won’t be as anything that we have seen before. It seems that the screen will have a new input mechanism, different from the existing Storm and Storm2. It will feature a 1GHz processor and 8GB of internal memory. It’s rumored that the device would originally have 512MB of flash memory, but now they have increased the flash memory capacity to over 1GB. Currently, the phone is said to be equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, which could be changed when the device is closer to mass production.
It’s said that a few devices are being tested in the wild by a limited team to prevent leaks. Furthermore, the test units hardware has been encased in existing BlackBerry Storm2 cases. That way if the phone is lost or forgotten at a bar in California by an engineer, the finder is not able to immediately identify the device as a Storm 3 test unit.
At the moment, it’s unknown exactly when the Storm 3 will make its big debut. Though one of the rumors state that the device is going to be the first or second LTE smartphones that Verizon Wireless will launch, which means we won’t see the Storm 3 until next year. Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam has stated before that the carrier will unveil several LTE devices in January 2011 at the Consumer Electronics Show [CES].
Do take into account that we cannot verify the legitimacy of these claims. Also, the device is still a prototype, which means it is subject to minor and major changes. We will definitely keep our eyes and ears open for more information on this device. Let us know what your impressions are so far.
[erictric]
