Carphone lands BlackBerry Javelin

Carphone Warehouse and its third-party distribution arm Hugh Symons Communications will get first run on the forth-coming BlackBerry Javelin (pictured), successor to the BlackBerry Storm.

The Javelin, or BlackBerry Curve 8900, is expected in Carphone channels in early December, ahead of the Christmas shopping rush.

Neither party would confirm a head start, but the pair took early stock of both the BlackBerry Bold and Kickstart devices earlier this year.

Carphone UK trading director George Dymond said: “We have a really strong relationship with [BlackBerry maker] Research in Motion, as demonstrated by our exclusive with the Bold earlier in the year. When that came out, it went to Carphone and Orange first, and also to Hugh Symons dealers.”

“The moment we get stock in our warehouse, Hugh Symons has access to it. We are very passionate about getting products to market first, for all of our customers.”

The BlackBerry Storm was released exclusively on Vodafone last week. Vodafone said “tens of thousands” had registered interest in the Storm ahead of sale, and reports this week suggest demand has been high in store following launch.

The BlackBerry Javelin closely resembles the Storm, except it has a keypad rather than a touchscreen. It runs a 512 MHz processor and includes 56MB of on-board flash memory, Wi-Fi and 3.2 megapixel camera.