RIM's first touchscreen slider is bound at least for Sprint but may have problems on its way if a leak today proves accurate. Now called the 9900 in GSM form and 9930 for CDMA networks, the phone is reportedly being tested with Sprint branding but has had an unusually high 80 percent failure rate in early testing. BGR has heard that the only other BlackBerry to suffer similar problems early on was the Pearl Flip.

The failure rate isn't necessarily indicative of final quality but could stall the actual release.

Regardless of how soon the Sprint version arrives, it's hinted the 9930 could be a Sprint exclusive within the US and that the 9900 may be reserved for carriers elsewhere. The latter is known to have 850MHz and 1,900MHz 3G, which could put it on all three major Canadian carriers as well as AT&T if the design isn't limited to a single American carrier.

The slider is potentially a major technology showcase for RIM, as it may drop the SurePress click-down screen from the Storm2 but would be the first to combine both touch and a trackpad. It may also bring 802.11n Wi-Fi and BlackBerry OS 6.0, neither of which have been seen before on a shipping RIM phone. It may release this year but is far from any definitive schedule.


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