In case anyone missed it, the BlackBerry Niagara 9630 is now the BlackBerry Tour 9630. BGR just found out that the Tour will be coming to Verizon some time in July of this year. According to BG’s source, the Tour will be priced around $199 with a new 2-year agreement.

Excited?

The BlackBerry Niagara as a name actually wasn’t that bad, but it seems like RIM felt otherwise.

BGR has somewhat confirmed that RIM is planning on naming the BlackBerry 9630 the BlackBerry Tour. The sites blackberrytour.com and blackberry9630.com (both presumably owned by RIM) point to the same IP address, and happened to be registered on the same date. I guess it would make a bit more sense considering the new partnership between U2 and RIM.

No official word from RIM about the naming of the 9630, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing something soon.

How’s this for an exciting rumor? It seems like RIM might be launching a BlackBerry TV Episode service soon.

According to NewTeeVee, a few sources have said that RIM is planning to announce a full episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA.

Here’s what is known so far:

• It will be an unlimited monthly subscription service for a fee
• Once a user orders a program, the content will be downloaded in the background over Wi-Fi
• Multiple broadcast and cable networks have licensed content for the service

Here’s the problem with this: RIM might announce a TV Episode service that uses Wi-Fi, and then soon after (still a rumor) announce the Niagara 9630, a Wi-Fi-less BlackBerry?

Also, there is no mention as to whether or not wireless carriers will allow such a service to be accessible by BlackBerrys on their network.

Rumors are so much fun.

Source: jkOnTheRun via NewTeeVee

BGR posted a quick video walkthrough of the BlackBerry Niagara 9630.

Nothing big here, but I know all you Verizon, Sprint and other CDMA users will still appreciate it.

BG was able to get his hands on a BlackBerry Niagara 9630 and did a quick preview review. Here’s what he had to say:

• Best BlackBerry keyboard. Ever.
• Best BlackBerry speakers. Ever.
• Best screen. Ever. (It looks more like glass than crappy plastic)
• Best size/feel. Ever.

Convinced? BGR will be doing a full write up of the Niagara 9630 soon, but for now you can take a look at some of their pictures here.

I’ve posted some photos, a hands-on review by CrackBerry of the BlackBerry Niagara 9630, and even a leaked roadmap for Sprint where the Niagara is placed to launch during Q3 of 2009. What about Verizon?

According to the analysts from The Street, we should be seeing a launch of the Niagara 9630 on Verizon some time in May. This seems to be more of a speculation based on WES also happening in the beginning of May.

No news on pricing and other details yet, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing some more leaks soon. You can follow news of the 9630 here.

CrackBerry Kevin was able to get a pre-release BlackBerry Niagara 9630 for a hands-on review!

After reading this review, if it weren’t for the lack of Wi-Fi I would probably consider getting the Niagara. Although I do think my Curve 8900 rocks.

Here is what the review includes:

• A Note About the Pre-Release Device Review
• An Intro and Overview of the BlackBerry 9630
• BlackBerry 9630 Video Hardware Overview
• BlackBerry 9630 Hardware First Impressions
• BlackBerry 9630 WE – Some Closing Thoughts for Now…

The review has lots of pictures and details, so if you were wondering about the BlackBerry Niagara 9630 be sure to check out the CrackBerry BlackBerry 9630 Hands-On Hardware First Look.

Who changed their mind about the Niagara?

PhoneNews got their hands on a leaked 2009 Sprint device roadmap showing the BlackBerry Niagara in Q3.

In case you missed it, over the weekend I posted a video and some photos of the Niagara that you should definitely check out if you’re interested in this BlackBerry!

Anyone else have information on the BlackBerry Niagara?

CrackBerry member salisa.m posted a short video of the BlackBerry Niagara 9630.

The video quality isn’t the best but I’m sure that won’t matter since a lot of you are itching for more leaks of the Niagara. With the leaked photos I posted earlier today, it’s only a matter of time before we see a surge of more leaked photos and videos.

If anyone has a BlackBerry Niagara 9630 and wants to share some photos or videos, send them to tips@blackberryrocks.com. All tips are kept confidential.

CrackBerry got some leaked photos of the BlackBerry Niagara 9630!

Here is a recap on the mentioned features of the Niagara:

• The OS actually we’re told is 4.7.1 (but possibly, possibly, be OS 5.0 depending on launch date).
• No Wi-Fi.
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support along with WCDMA support (bands not specified, but most likely 2100MHz).
• CDMA 1x/EV-DO Rev. A device.
• Release date unknown, but we’d say May/June if we had to bet.
• 3.2 megapixel camera (though we heard a rumor there might be a camera-less version, but that’s unconfirmed).
• The web browser supports JavaScript 1.6 (not huge news, but at least the browser is slowly improving).

So what does everyone think of the Niagara so far? I don’t really like the battery door.