RIM and U2 announce tour partnership

"Presented by BlackBerry"

9 March 2009 17:45 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

U2's forthcoming tour, "U2 360 Degrees", will be sponsored by Research in Motion and its Blackberry smartphone range, it's been revealed.

The high profile tour is claimed to feature innovative tech in order to present audiences with a "360 degree" of the band doing their thing, hence the name.

Due to kick off on 30 June in Barcelona, U2 will visit 14 Euro-cities, including ones in the UK, before rocking their way to North America and beyond.

U2 Manager Paul McGuinness said in a press release that the partnership is a "shared vision" between the phone co and the band:

"This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans. We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds".

U2 had previously enjoyed a close relationship with Apple with the band appearing on stage with Apple CEO Steve Jobs at press events in the past and creating a U2 special edition iPod.