BlackBerry Thunder to be exclusive on Verizon

blackberry9500

Did I just say that the norm is for AT&T to get RIM’s latest BlackBerries first? FAIL. According to the BGR, Verizon will have exclusive rights to the Thunder aka 9500 aka Storm aka the first touchscreen BB. But fret not BB fans for the Thunder will be a world traveler like its 8800 series brethren and run GSM HSPA. It’s a bit unclear whether it will be EV-DO or possibly 4G, but it’s a bit too early to predict that. The Thunder has only four physical hard keys sans keyboard. I’m a bit skeptical considering the latter and how I don’t think touchscreen phones are useful. Well, they are to a certain extent, but a BlackBerry without a keyboard worries me.

As stated earlier, Verizon will have an exclusivity rights on the Thunder unless it meets a quota. We’ll see how this pans out, but we’re a long ways away before this launches.