The Storm Is Here: Verizon Wireless To Carry BlackBerry Touch Phone This Holiday Season

Call Al Roker: the Storm has arrived! After months of anticipation and heavy rumors, Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion (RIM) announced today that the BlackBerry Storm ($379.00) will be available exclusively on the Verizon network in the U.S. (Vodafone in Europe) this holiday season.

The 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.55-inch, first complete touch phone from Blackberry is aimed at both consumers and business users. Like its obvious competitor the Apple iPhone ($338.00), it can handle everything from e-mail to watching video on its crisp display.

Incorporating a new touch technology, the Storm lets users navigate the 480 X 360 pixel color display with just a finger, and its ClickThrough feature senses that you are pressing on the screen by providing “click” feedback. The tactile touch screen gives customers a choice of virtual keyboards: RIM’s SureType layout in portrait and a full QWERTY layout in landscape orientation.

Read our full hands-on for more on the experience using the screen.

Supporting both CDMA and GSM networks, the Storm will deliver RIM’s dependable e-mail and Internet connectivity whether on the domestic Verizon Wireless network or when traveling abroad. The phone supports full HTML browsing in either portrait or landscape orientation and picture messaging (MMS). Its
removable and rechargeable battery is reported to provide approximately 5.5 hours of talk time and 15 days of standby time.

The phone is rounded out with its 3.2 megapixel camera which contains a zoom, auto focus, and a powerful flash that also provides continuous lighting when recording video. The 1GB of on-board memory storage and the 8GB microSD memory card included in expandable memory card slot should provide tons of room for loads of multimedia.

RIM and Verizon confirm that the phone will be priced competitvely. Additional information on availability and pricing will be announced in the coming weeks.