BlackBerry Storm3 is Monaco, gets 1.2GHz chip

RIM's on-again, off-again BlackBerry Storm3 has reappeared in yet another leak on Friday with signs that it could be RIM's most advanced BlackBerry ever. Matching early rumors, BGR heard it would have the highest resolution display of any BlackBerry at 800x480, keeping it step with most Android phones but below the iPhone 4. Speed would also be recouped through the same 1.2GHz processor and dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi as the Torch 2.

The faster chip would let the Storm3, also nicknamed the Monaco, record 720p video from its five-megapixel camera, serve as a 3G hotspot and get the hardware graphcis acceleration needed for 3D games. Only 8GB of storage would be built-in, as in the Torch and Torch 2, though a microSDHC slot would still be available for more.

Its design despite being full-touch would still have an optical trackpad for one-handed use. RIM's poorly received click-down screen from the first two Storms would likely disappear, however, since the mechanism interferes with multi-touch.

Unlike its ancestors, the Storm3 would ship in two or even three versions, one of which is codenamed Monza in keeping with the F1 theme. It would initially ship in September. Verizon and Vodafone have usually been the primary carriers for the Storm in the past but could be joined by more this time.

The device was once thought killed off but may have been scrapped in an early form that would have just upgraded the Storm2 with more memory. Its revival would mark a determination to reenter the touch-only phone space after what was considered by many to be a turning point where the platform fell out of favor at Verizon. The carrier deliberately timed the unveiling of the Storm2 such that it would be overshadowed by the Motorola Droid and since then has repeatedly shown signs that it has lost interested in the BlackBerry as a main source of sales.

A September launch would nonetheless put it into a very different market. Android is now the dominant platform on Verizon and is now confirmed to be joined by a CDMA iPhone, which could include a CDMA iPhone 5 by the time the Storm3 ships. The much faster processor, HD video and hotspot would render it much more competitive but carry the risk of RIM having a merely average device by its release.

RIM and Verizon had originally pitched the Storm as an 'iPhone killer' but saw sales quickly peter out a few months after its unveiling, leading to multiple price cuts.

By Electronista Staff