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Feeling overloaded with BlackBerry news and rumors? We know the feeling. We hear new things almost every day, and it can be tough to keep up with it all. that’s why we’re bringing you BlackBerry News from the Wire every Thursday.

We’ll catch you up on everything ‘Berry that happened over the course of the week. Not only that, but we’ll rank ‘em by importance, so you can more easily skim the items and read the ones of most significance. If you only have time to read one article, for instance, you might want to head down to our 5-star section. It’s All the BlackBerry News Fit to Geek.

Initial Tour numbers encouraging
According to some preliminary numbers, RIM sold between 275 and 300,000 Tours in the first 24 hours — and that’s just through Verizon. Those numbers are comparable to the original iPhone launch in 2007. That device reached one million units after 74 days. The Sprint numbers should make that look even better, but they had a number of problems with the launch. There are many reports of customers not receiving their Tours from online orders, some who couldn’t activate the device after purchasing from a retail outlet, and even a few who ordered at the very beginning of online availability, only to find a backorder notice in their Inboxes. Unfortunately, we probably won’t get any official numbers until RIM’s next quarter closes. That’s soon though, right?

Storm 2 caught on cam, removed by RIM
With the Tour out now, it’s time to look forward to the next wave of devices. The Storm 2 probably won’t be next, but it’s sure coming soon enough. Boy Genius Report had a shot of the Storm 2, but RIM made them take it down. Booooo. Anyway, we’re looking at another CDMA device, world edition, with Wi-Fi (woo!), a 3.2 megapixel camera, and 360×480 screen resolution. It looks like it will be the 9550, but don’t fret, AT&T customers. You’ll be getting the 9520, which will be along the lines of the Storm 2, not the original. We’ll see how RIM does with the different style screen. Rumors might suggest it will be out soon, but I’m still banking on a November release.

7Digital bringing music downloads to BlackBerry
Starting in September, BlackBerry users will have a music download service just for them. UK-based music distributor 7Digital will begin offering downloads to users in Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the US. You’ll download the main application from App World, and then will have the ability to download from 7Digital’s six million song catalog. The songs will cost 79 pence, which could be over the standard 99 cent price for an iTunes song, but the tracks are mostly DRM-free, another plus because you can transfer between handsets. We’ll definitely cover this one a bit more as it gets closer.

BlackBerry Onyx pictured with optical trackpad
Yes, the BlackBerry Onyx is coming, and every time we hear something new about it, it seems like it will be here sooner and sooner. Confirming what we heard last week, the unit will definitely ship with an optical trackpad. Hey, sounds good to us. Meanwhile, you can check out the new BlackBerry Messenger on a BlackBerry Onyx.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager 5.0.0.8 now available
The newest version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager is here. It shipped with the Tour, which Verizon released early this week. But, for those who didn’t get the Tour, you can get it now. Just head over to Smith Micro’s VZW site to get the download files.

Launch parties begin for the 8520 Curve
The BlackBerry Gemini. This will be one of the last times we use the in-house codename for the device, which is dubbed the Curve 8520. We’ve known for a while that it’s coming in early August, and now we have yet another indicator: RIM is holding release parties for the device starting July 20. They’re running it as a movie night promotion, so make sure to check out the dates and see if you can get yourself in. It sounds like the device will be a Wal-Mart exclusive at first.

Control Verizon FiOS with your Storm
You know those DirecTV commercials with Dule Hill, where he’s in a bank being robbed, yet he can set his DVR from his phone? Yeah, Verizon FiOS is going for that, too. You can set up the service on your BlackBerry Storm right now. Apparently, support for the Curve is coming soon.

BlackBerry browser getting tabs?
For the most part, all we hear is complaints about the BlackBerry browser. It might work well for basic users, but power users just can’t get enough done. We’ve seen a few alternative browsers, including Sky Fire, which has been all the rave lately, but RIM might have a few tricks up its sleeve with OS 5.0. The new browser will have tabs. Yes, it’s just one feature, and chances are the browser will still fall short. Still, it’s progress.

Send pictures from your BlackBerry. What good are pictures if you can’t share them? You can send BlackBerry pictures, both old and new, to email, Messenger, and MMS.

Delicious for BlackBerry. Delicious bookmarks have become a staple of Web 2.0. Here’s a new app that helps you manage them.

Tiny Twitter for BlackBerry. The latest in our review of BlackBerry Twitter clients.

MyBlackBerry…not quite available. RIM said they’d launch the new BlackBerry social network, MyBlackBerry, by Wednesday. Hasn’t happened as of Wednesday evening.

Three new BlackBerry theme reviews. A Twitter theme, a new Hedone Design theme, and the theme I’ve been using since October. I think it’s a good crop of BlackBerry themes.

MyPhone and Google Voice. One turns your BlackBerry into an iPhone, the other gives you a new central phone number. Check ‘em out.

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