Sources from the land of RIM tell us that a new BlackBerry is making the rounds under the codename of Essex. Actually, Essex isn’t something new; it is what RIM is calling the next revision of the Niagara, which is the already released BlackBerry Tour.

From what our sources are telling us, the Essex really isn’t that much different from the Tour. It adds the Wi-Fi support and the trackpad that first showed up on the Curve 8520. It is said that the Essex will be what CDMA providers like to call a “World Phone,” as it will offer CDMA as well as GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS support as well as EVDO.

We are also hearing that the Essex will add a 3.2 megapixel camera to the mix and offer a screen resolution of 480 x 360. Our sources tell us that it will add an accelerometer to give the Essex orientation support, as well, but we seem to be getting some conflicting reports on this.

With the Tour still being pretty fresh out of the gate, it is hard to think that RIM would want to push this phone out quickly, but from what we are hearing at least two CDMA providers are pushing RIM hard for this model; apparently, their current “World Phone” offers are getting a bit long in the tooth and they just simply need it. Our sources tell us that it is unlikely that it will see the actual light of day for release this year, but early next year is likely for at least some CDMA carriers. It is unknown if carriers who adopt the Essex will drop the Tour, but our sources tell us that with the Tour sales going so well, it is unlikely that will happen.