Behind Your Business

Research in Motion wants you to take the Tour -- the BlackBerry Tour 9630, which was announced Tuesday. The new smartphone from RIM is a feature-filled 3G device that will work on CDMA networks in North America as well as on other networks abroad.

Mike Lazaridis, president and Co-CEO at the Ontario-based company, said the new BlackBerry, with "its striking design and exceptional performance," offers a "compelling choice for the growing number of wireless customers looking to upgrade their existing cell phone to a smartphone."

In the U.S., the Tour will be available through Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless this summer. According to news reports, Sprint's price will be about $200 with a two-year contract after rebates, although there is no word yet on what Verizon will charge.

For U.S. and Abroad

The new black-and-chrome smartphone supports high-speed 3G EV-DO Rev A networks for the U.S. and Canada, and, for use in Europe and elsewhere, 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100 Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks.

There's a full QWERTY keyboard with what the company described as "chrome frets and finely sculpted keys," a 2.44-inch, 480x360 screen, and a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording. The company said the screen offers the highest resolution available on any BlackBerry device.

A full HTML browser has support for streaming media, there's 256MB of flash memory, and memory can be expanded through a microSD/SDHC memory card slot that handles up to 16GB. RIM said the Tour is "expected" to be able to support 32GB next-generation cards when they come out.

For getting around, there's built-in GPS, geotagging, and BlackBerry Maps. Users can download applications from BlackBerry App World, and the Tour comes loaded with Documents to Go so users can work with Microsoft Office documents. A MediaSync program makes it easier to move music from Apple's iTunes...