Waterloo, Ontario (AHN) - Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce later this year the "Thunder," a touch screen handset directed at users of Apple's iPhone.

The phone will be available in the third quarter exclusively through Verizon Wireless, rival to AT&T which is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, reports the Wall Street Journal. The phone will also be available in Europe from Vodafone.

The Thunder is only the latest move by RIM to compete against Apple. Thursday, word leaked the Canadian-based handset maker is readying the "Bold," a BlackBerry that operates on faster 3G wireless networks. Apple is expected to launch a 3G version of the iPhone next month.