At two separate events today I got some hands-on time with the BlackBerry Tour 9630, the new flagship BlackBerry for Sprint and Verizon. There's not much to report - and that's actually a good thing.

The Tour feels like the best of all BlackBerry worlds so far: the smooth form and 3.2-megapixel camera of the 8900 combined with the Bold's keyboard and the 8830's global capabilities. Using the Tour felt lightning fast, and the 2.5" screen was bright and tight. The Tour felt like it just works - it will be totally familiar to BlackBerry users, just faster, better, and higher-resolution. That's what I mean by "not much to report." The Tour is a refinement, not a revolution.

The Verizon version I used had V CAST Music with Rhapsody and Verizon's visual voicemail client on it. The Sprint version was an early model that didn't yet have Sprint TV or the other Sprint software which will come on final units.

Interestingly, the Verizon Tour runs BlackBerry software 4.7.1.38. The much-maligned Storm runs 4.7.0.148. Is 4.7.1 truly an upgrade to 4.7.0? If it is, then the Tour's release could portend a further improvement for the Storm, as well.

I'm hoping to get both Tour models as soon as they come out later this summer.