Sprint Will Have an All-Touch BlackBerry This Year, but It’s Not the Z10

Sprint may have chosen to take a pass on the first all-touch BlackBerry 10 device, but it isn’t planning to sit out that part of the market.

The No. 3 U.S. carrier plans to launch an all-touch BlackBerry-10-powered device in the second half of the year, according to a source familiar with the situation. The device is a follow-on handset to the Z10, rather than just a slightly modified version of the initial all-touch phone being sold by Sprint’s rivals.

While AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are all prepping their launch of the Z10, Sprint opted to launch only with the keyboard-equipped Q10.

That device is now expected to hit Sprint around midyear, with the new touch model slated for sometime in the second half of the year.

Officially, Sprint has confirmed only that it will carry the Q10, a move it announced back in January. The keyboard-equipped model is expected to hit some countries in April, but BlackBerry has acknowledged that it will take longer to reach the U.S.