Research in Motion Ltd (RIM), maker of Blackberry, unveiled it’s first smart phone with a touch screen on 8th October, its answer to the popular Apple iPhone. The phone, the Blackberry Storm, will be available later this year through Verizon Wireless in the United States and Vodafone in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand, the Canadian company said.

So even though we don’t know exactly when or how much we’ll be getting the Storm in India, at least we know it will be on Vodafone by the end of this year.There’s not a whole lot of info on this just yet, but turns out that Vodafone’s deal with RIM to distribute the Storm in Europe actually extends out to Australia as well.

The Storm resembles the iPhone but its color touch-screen differs in that it is “clickable” — the screen depresses slightly when touched like a typewriter key.Users navigate on the touch-screen by using their finger like a cursor, scrolling, highlighting, panning and zooming and clicking on selections.

Impressive Highlights Of BlackBerry Storm:

• High resolution (480×360 pixel) 3.25-inch diagonal TFT LCD display, supporting over 65,000 colors
• Innovative “clickable” touch-screen that actually depresses ever so slightly when the screen is pressed (supports for multi-touches, taps, slides and other touch-screen gestures)
  3.2 megapixel camera with variable zoom, auto focus and powerful flash that also provides continuous lighting when recording video
• Built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) supports location-based applications and services, as well as geotagging of photos
• BlackBerry Internet Service, BlackBerry Unite!, BlackBerry Professional Software and BlackBerry Enterprise Server support
• Preloaded DataViz Documents to Go allows users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and
• PowerPoint files directly on the phone
• Full HTML high-performance browser and built-in RSS support
• 1GB integrated memory storage, expandable with external microSD/SDHD card slot (supports up to 16GB)
• Media player that can play movies smoothly in full screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music collection; playlists can be created directly on the handset and there’s an equalizer with 11 preset filters - including “Lounge,” “Jazz” and “Hip Hop” - for customized audio ranges when using wired headphones or external speakers
• Standard 3.5 mm stereo headset jack supporting for Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP) and dedicated volume controls
• Ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts backlighting for ideal screen viewing and built-in accelerometer, allowing customers to view applications in either portrait or landscape mode by simply rotating the handset (RIM’s SureType keyboard layout is available in portrait mode, while full QWERTY keyboard layout is available in landscape mode)
• Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery supporting approximately 6 hours of talk time on 3G networks and 15 days of standby time
• Orientation and Rotation Support - Enable an application to support portrait and landscape orientations and re-draw the screen when the BlackBerry Storm smartphone is rotated.
• Accelerometer Support - Enable 360 degree motion sensing for advanced gaming applications and other motion-sensitive applications.
• Virtual Keyboard Control - Control when a virtual keyboard is visible to the user within an application, and when the user can show or hide a keyboard within specified screens.
• Camera and Media Integration - Build camera and video recording capabilities into a custom application and add a “Send to” menu option that enables photos or recorded videos to be sent from within the custom application.
• Set Homescreen Background Image - Enable an application to set the background image on a BlackBerry smartphone’s home screen.
• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG: 9.05, +0.10, +1.11%) - Create compelling interactive graphical interfaces, drawings and animation using vector-based 2D graphics.
• Location-Based Services (LBS) - Use the Locator API to add LBS capabilities to mobile applications.
• Multimedia Integration - Embed audio and video playback in a mobile application and enable the application to capture images using a BlackBerry smartphone’s camera.
• Customized Messages and Alerts - Create an integrated experience between a mobile application and a BlackBerry smartphone by displaying custom information directly in a message list or on the home screen. Application messages can appear in BlackBerry Messenger or other instant messaging applications. Alerts appear as indicator icons on the home screen banner and on the external LCD of a BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone.
• Multiple Calendar and Contact List Support - Enable a mobile application to access a secondary calendar and contact list databases for users that wish to connect their BlackBerry smartphone to both a BlackBerry(R: 52.49, +1.81, +3.57%) Enterprise Server installation at work and a BlackBerry(R: 52.49, +1.81, +3.57%) Unite!(TM: 67.25, -1.29, -1.88%) installation at home.
• Time Zone Enhancements - Enable mobile applications dependent on time zone information to access, display, retrieve and set time zone information.
• Decor Enhancements - Control visual properties of a user interface.
• SMS & MMS Listener - Set applications to automatically update content or alter the progress of a function based on preset criteria that can be triggered by SMS and MMS messages.Here are the official product specifications from Verizon Wireless and RIM (Research In Motion):
• Size: 4.4 by 2.4 by 0.55 inches (length by width by diameter).
• Weight: 5.46 oz. (battery included).
• Memory: 128MB RAM, 1GB eMMC, MicroSD located under battery door cover.
• Battery Life:15 days standby, 5.5 hours of talk time.
  (1,400 mAhr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell).
• User Interface: Intuitive touch-screen.
• Navigation: Touch-screen navigation, with ClickThrough for user selection.
• Display: high-resolution 480-by-360-pixel color display, Transmissive TFT LCD, supports over 65,000 colors.
• Camera: 3.2-MP camera, flash, auto focus.
• Keyboard: On-screen keyboard-portrait SureType and Multitap, QWERTY landscape.
• Voice Input/Output: Integrated speaker and microphone, hands-free headset-capable,
• Bluetooth headset-capable, integrated hands-free speakerphone.
• GPS: Stand-alone and Assisted GPS. Preloaded with BlackBerry Maps.
• Media Player: Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264 (encoding and decoding 30fps), WMV.
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth v2.0; Mono/Stereo Headset, Handsfree, PBAP (Phone Book Access Profile) and Serial Port Profile Supported. Bluetooth Stereo Audio (A2DP/AVCRP), DUN.
• USB Port: Enables charging and high-speed data synchronization via USB “A” to micro-USB “B” cable.
• Power Adapter: +5V DC/500 mA AC power adapter, with interchangeable, location-specific plugs.

RIM did not provide a price for the phone or a release date except to say it would be in stores by the Christmas holiday season.

The Storm is seen by many industry analysts as RIM’s response to the iPhone and an attempt to increase the popularity of the Blackberry beyond businessmen addicted to its email capabilities.

“This is going to draw lot of comparisons with the Apple iPhone obviously because it’s ’touch’ and it’s cool and it’s sleek and it’s sexy and it’s beautiful,” said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at market intelligence firm IDC.”But it’s not just a defensive posture,” he said. “I think it’s a natural evolution of things — touch-screen is a thing everybody’s very hot on right now.”

The release of the Storm comes some two weeks after Internet giant Google entered the mobile phone market with a touch-screen smartphone developed with T-Mobile, the T-Mobile G1, which runs on Google open-source software.The3G smartphone can run on a variety of networks worldwide.