It's official. The first touchscreen phone from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion will be available nationwide on Nov. 21 through Verizon Wireless.
The BlackBerry Storm will be available for $200 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract.
The Storm will have a 3.2 inch screen, built-in GPS, touchscreen navigation, media player, 3.2 megapixel camera, video recording capability and access to an App Center along the lines of iPhone App
Store or Google Android marketplace.
The launch of the phone comes just three weeks after RIM released the BlackBerry Bold through AT&T. The keypad-based Bold, which was supposed to debut in the summer, was much delayed and is now effectively available for free through Wal-Mart after a $200 rebate discounting the entire cost.
Meanwhile, in the last few days Verizon and RIM have been burning up the airwaves with nationwide television ads of the Storm. But getting consumer attention for the device during the holiday season won't be easy.
The Storm will compete with Apple's iPhone, which is priced at $200, and with T-Mobile's recently launched G1 phone, the first to carry Google's Android mobile operating system. The G1 will cost $180 with a two-year contract.
What RIM is hoping will set the Storm apart from its competitors is a touchscreen that mimics the 'click' tactile response that comes with typing on a keypad. The phone also offers feature such as cut and paste of text that the iPhone lacks.
An early review of the Storm by Wired.com pegs it as the first touchscreen device that could truly be a stiff competitor to the iPhone, though it is unlikely to ever match the iPhone in terms of its "cultural cache."
Photo:Daniel Salo for Wired.com
