[01.05.2008 first posted on silicon republic]
Research In Motion (RIM) has never strayed much from the traditional candy-bar handset – just making it bigger or smaller and always with a pretty modest-sized screen, so ‘CrackBerry’ fans are in for a treat with the new flip phone rumoured to be on the way.

Codenamed Kickstart, this new clamshell handset was unveiled on the http://www.boygeniusreport.com blog, complete with several pictures.
It is reported to have both an internal and external LCD screen, much like the flip phones on offer from Motorola or LG, but still has the qwerty keyboard layout and trackball navigation feature typical of a standard BlackBerry.
While pictures of the smart phone from the side show a somewhat bulky body, this is not all bad news, the bulk suggests a bigger battery which in turn might mean a power-hungry feature like 3G.
The BlackBerry, like the iPhone, runs on an Edge network or 2.5G, and RIM may well have pipped Apple to the post with this new Kickstart model. However, unfortunately in the beauty stakes it merely has a great personality.
BlackBerry users may not have to wait until the flipside of 2008 to get their hands on a Kickstart as an autumn release date is rumoured.
By Marie Boran
Kickstart pic courtesy of Boygeniusreport.com