While most smartphone manufacturers have released at least one fancy touchscreen model, RIM has pretty much stuck with their Blackberry's standard businessman-pleasing form, a squat candybar design with QWERTY and a tiny screen. That was, until they announced the BlackBerry Storm, the first full touchscreen Blackberry on the market—and also the first smartphone to transform a normally cold, lifeless touchscreen into one big clickable button.

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Why do companies ship products they know are mad buggy? Apple did it with the iPhone, RIM did it with the BlackBerry Storm, which locked up and crashed on me plenty during the review period, even after it was delayed precisely to make it less buggy. RIM, however, is at least admitting they screwed up off the bat (before it lands in most consumers' hands, even), promising a software update "within weeks." I hope that besides plugging holes and squashing bugs, they also shake off the lag and sluggishness I experienced to make the Storm feel a bit springier. (Kill the fade transitions!) Guess we'll see. [Gearlog]

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It's hard to overstate how important the BlackBerry Storm is to RIM and Verizon. It's RIM's bold effort to fend off the iPhone and Verizon's best hope for a star handset that draws people in, or at least keeps them from bailing. The Storm's major innovation is what RIM calls SurePress—the entire touchscreen is fat, honkin' button—which has been paired with a redesigned, finger-friendly BlackBerry OS. We've already showed you a lot of what the fuss is all about, but now that we've spent some quality, uninterrupted time with the Storm, here's why we think it falls short of its promise.

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Back when the iPhone launched in Australia, there was a lot of confusion over what plans were the best. Fortunately for us, financial guru and Giz reader Andrew from Numbersinaflash.com came up with a simple to use online calculator to work out which plan was best for individual users.

Well, almost five months later and the touchscreen phone du jour is the BlackBerry Storm on Vodafone. And to try and help potential customers out, Andrew has once again crunched the numbers and created an online, flash-based calculator to help you decide what plan is the best for you.

If you're even remotely considering picking up a Storm next week, you should definitely check out Andrew's calculator.
[Numbersinaflash - Thanks Andrew!]

Oops. You know that pre-sale flyer that was doing the rounds to Verizon "VIPs", the one with the BlackBerry Storm on the left hand side? Turns out that if you, a VIP, turn up at a store with that very flyer you'll not be able to buy a Storm ahead of its launch. You won't, in fact, be able to touch one to see what it's like. You won't be able to see one. There are none, apparently. All you're able to do is get yourself put on a list for a call from Verizon on Friday so you can pre-order the phone. Okay, the flyer didn't make definite promises...but it's pretty much 100% misleading for Storm fans. Guess everyone has to wait for the real date. [BGR]

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Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas boys and girls. It's an otherwise normal person dressed up in a Santa suit here. I'm here to deliver some very special Christmas news to all you crackberry addicts gadget lovers out there.

So who here wants a BlackBerry Storm? Well, we've known that it was going to be available exclusively on Vodafone here in Australia, and today I can happily tell you that you can get your touchscreen Blackberry fix from December 1 all around the country. But more than that, I have some pricing for you. What, you don't think that all those elves up in RIM's Canadian sweatshop work for free, do you?

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Verizon, understandably, is going all out to promote the upcoming Blackberry Storm. Comparisons to the iPhone are rampant, especially from we tech journalists, but the biggest salvo yet in this arena could have been fired yesterday. In this latest comparison, Verizon said to hell with the iPhone, and went straight to the Blackberry on Blackberry comparisons. In the world of smart phones, it's officially brother against brother, father against son. Touchscreen versus trackball. Thanksgiving at Blackberry manor is going to be awkward.

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No more rumors, speculation or innuendo. The BlackBerry Storm officially arrives on Verizon Wireless on Nov. 21 for $US199 after a $US50 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract. ... Read More »

At least that's what a big picture of said Storm seems to indicate here on an invitation sent in by Verizon VIP Kevin. How you become a Verizon VIP remains somewhat unclear, but the invitation includes info on purchasing... Read More »

After a set of delays, rumours have surfaced that the Blackberry Storm may finally see the light of day on November 20 despite being planned originally for November 14. The pre-launch will be on the 20th, meaning the Blackberry Storm will be available for demo in corporate Verizon stores. They will also be available for pre-order at the pre-launch, but they will be limited to high-end Verizon customers and those customers who received mailing information. November 24th and 25th will be the general availability date for corporate customers and third-party retailers. The $199 price with a two-year contract is not expected to change. [Boy Genius Report]