BlackBerry Driftwood Leak

RIM is planning an aggressive push into 3G BlackBerries for GSM carriers with one model that will be available on both AT&T and T-Mobile at once, separate leaks show. Codenamed the Driftwood, the device is a variant on the BlackBerry Tour with a Bold-style keyboard, a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS and the 480x360 touch display. The new phone would add Wi-Fi, however, and would support 3G over HSPA on T-Mobile USA's 1,700MHz and 2,100MHz bands.

The Driftwood would also bring UMA support to enable Wi-Fi calling on T-Mobile or other providers. Although prototype shots show RIM's commonplace trackball, it's believed the new model will have an optical trackpad like that of the 8520 that eases control and should improve reliability over time.

Based on the tip, the phone is likely to show on T-Mobile in September and is likely to have aggressive pricing of $199 or below thanks to a widely anticipated BlackBerry Bold price cut at AT&T that would bring the original HSPA BlackBerry down to a similar price. Whether or not AT&T itself will get the Driftwood isn't specified. [via BGR and Crackberry]

By Electronista Staff