Sprint is already planning to release a Wi-Fi enabled update to the BlackBerry Tour, in a move that mirrors the carrier’s strategy shift toward requiring Wi-Fi for all its devices, according to reports.
The BlackBerry Tour goes on sale Sunday at Sprint and Verizon for $199.99, and supports both CDMA and GSM networks. But since Research In Motion officially [announced the Tour](/mobility/article.php/3825336/RIMs+BlackBerry+Tour+Samsungs+Jet+to+Face+Off.htm) several weeks ago, reviewers balked at yet another BlackBerry lacking Wi-Fi.
To remedy the situation, Sprint next year will offer an updated Tour sporting Wi-Fi, though no other details were provided, according to FierceWireless.
“It is now a requirement for all our PDA equipment suppliers to include Wi-Fi,” said Jeff Clemow, the carrier’s director of business product marketing, [according to FierceWireless](http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprints-blackberry-tour-sprout-wifi-next-year/2009-07-09). “Several quarters ago we made a conscious decision to require all of our PDA suppliers to support Wi-Fi.”
However, Clemow said the carrier has not set a specific date for its suppliers for the inclusion of Wi-Fi.
Meanwhile, RIM is remaining cagey about details of the so-called Storm 2, which is [expected to have Wi-Fi](/mobility/article.php/3814216/WiFi+Could+Pay+Off+for+BlackBerry+Storm+2.htm) and to debut by fall from Verizon. Though it received mixed reviews, the original Storm, which lacked Wi-Fi, was seen as the BlackBerry makers’ answer to the Apple iPhone 3G, and was the first RIM handset with a touchscreen. And despite the tepid critical response to the Storm, RIM said the device is key to its efforts to reach non-business users.
Also just out from T-Mobile and AT&T is the new Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry Curve 8900.