RIM said to be working on touch screen-capable BlackBerry

A touch-screen capable BlackBerry is in the works, according to reports, and is expected to be introduced sometime in the third quarter by Verizon Wireless and Vodafone in Europe.

Called the Thunder, it would be based on a true touch-screen similar to the one used by Apple's popular iPhone, and would have no keypad common to other BlackBerry devices, according to reports. Instead it would have only four physical keys and no slide-out keyboard, according to the Boy Genius Report and The Wall Street Journal .

A spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless and officials at Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, would not comment late Friday.

RIM announced a more typical new BlackBerry device earlier this week, the BlackBerry Bold, which will run on faster 3G networks. Officials described it as being for power users as well as consumers willing to spend more than they would for a typical cell phone.

A RIM marketing official also said in an interview that RIM is not looking to compete directly with the iPhone to reach a consumer audience instead of the BlackBerry's more traditional business users. RIM said the Bold came in response to requests by customers.