BlackBerry Storm released by RIM

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has unveiled what they hope will be an iPhone killer. The BlackBerry Storm was released on Wednesday after much speculation over what RIM had been working on to combat Apple’s iPod-cum-phone. This undated company handout shows the new Blackberry Storm with the help of which Vodafone and the Canadian mobile phone producer RIM plan to compete with Apple's iPhone and the new Google mobile phone of T-Mobile. EPA/Vodafone

This undated company handout shows the new Blackberry Storm with the help of which Vodafone and the Canadian mobile phone producer RIM plan to compete with Apple's iPhone and the new Google mobile phone of T-Mobile. EPA/Vodafone RIM’s BlackBerry has traditionally been the phone of choice for business professionals. But with recent upgrades, including Microsoft Exchange support, Apple’s iPhone has become a more business friendly option. The big feature that RIM is toting with the Storm is a “clickable” touch-screen interface. This is a clear attempt to score points with detractors of the iPhone, who claim that Apple’s touch-screen interface is imprecise and difficult to use. Storm’s touch screen actually depresses slightly when pressed, eliciting a click when the screen is released. RIM hopes that this clickable touch-screen will give users positive confirmation that a selection has been made. "The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touch-screen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touch-screens," said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at RIM in a statement.

"Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface." In addition to standard touch-screen functions such as multi-touches, taps, slides and other gestures allowing users to highlight, scroll, pan and zoom, the BlackBerry Storm will also contain the traditional BlackBerry navigation keys. The Storm will also have a built-in accelerometer, a gigabyte of onboard memory which is expandable to 16 gigabytes via microSD card, a 3.26 inch screen at 480 by 360 pixels. As expected, to combat the iPhone and other competitors, the Storm is a 3G device, but does not have Wi-Fi. The device measures in at 112.5 millimeters, by 62.2mm, by 13.95mm and weights 155 grams.RIM will debut the device later this year exclusively to Vodafone subscribers in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand, and with Verizon Wireless subscribers in the United States.