BlackBerry Tour 9650 Teased as Coming Soon [BlackBerry Tour2 (Essex) Official on RIM's Facebook Page]

If the BlackBerry Tour 9650 made a first appearance online in October 2009 and then a later unofficial debut on the Christmas Eve, today, the good folks from RIM have updated their Facebook account by officially confirming that the Tour 9650 (also known as BlackBerry Tour2 or BlackBerry Essex) is indeed under the hammer and that it’s “coming soon” — with us having absolutely no idea what soon means, although we’ve been hearing rumors that it’s either spring or summer 2010.

Although RIM hasn’t released any details concerning the smartphone’s debut, what we know so far is that the BlackBerry Tour 9650 is not that much different from the original Tour when it comes to size and overall appearance, but gets a new optical trackpad to replace the trackball for better functionality and Wi-Fi connectivity, while other appealing changes might include a snappier processor that will be borrowed from the Storm 2.

BlackBerry Tour2 is supposedly featuring a 3.2-megapixel camera, built-in GPS and BlackBerry Maps like the Tour did.

No word on much the new smartphone it’s going to cost, but we’re sticking close to a $150 price tag if you’re going for a contract.