BlackBerry Tour Worldphone now available

The BlackBerry Tour Worldphone is now available from Verizon Wireless and Sprint. Although both of those networks rely on CDMA technology here in the U.S., the BlackBerry Tour is capable of switching to GSM for worldwide use. I'm not sure what other countries still use CDMA technology (maybe a few in Asia), but the rest of the world is on GSM. Will UMTS become the next global standard as we evolve into 4G networks?

BlackBerry Tour "world phone"

The BlackBerry Tour is a "world phone" that will be coming to Sprint and Verizon Wireless. Both of these networks currently use CDMA technology. Most of Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world use GSM. As a results, to offer a "world phone," Sprint and Verizon must use a phone that works on both the CDMA network (for the U.S.) and the GSM network for the rest of the world. The BlackBerry Tour will provide EV-DO Rev A speeds on the CDMA network. When you're roaming, you'll have access to 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA networks.

So, if you're locked into Sprint or Verizon and you're a world traveler because you attend international medical meetings (like the World Federation Of Neuro-Oncology or the International Association for the Study of Pain), then pick up a world phone. You'll be glad you did if you get lost in a foreign city. I just hope we see more medical software for the BlackBerry operating system.