*UPDATED* BlackBerry Storm officially announced by Verizon Wireless

*UPDATED* BlackBerry Storm officially announced by Verizon Wireless

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Published on: 08 October, 2008 by PhoneArena Team

*UPDATED* BlackBerry Storm officially announced by Verizon Wireless

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*Update* As it was expected, thanks to the leakage of the press release, Verizon Wireless officially announced the Storm, the first touchscreen BlackBerry. See the link in the end for the official announcement

It looks like Verizon is prepping a press release to be released later today to officially announce the Storm. Of course it hasn't been a secret for a while, but we always love official, high resolution shots and spec sheets! blackberry.com/storm is active with a few demos, and Verizon has their own /storm site as well though it's decidedly less informative right now. One interesting note, GPS and BlackBerry Maps are mentioned in the same sentence so maybe Verizon will allow this to be GPS unlocked (maybe, there are a whole lot of superscripts after it.)
Click to see a large image.Click to see a large image.

via: BGR

The Storm is a CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A phone for Verizon, which sports quad-band GSM and 2100MHz  HSPA for 3G roaming in Europe. It has a 3.2" 480x360 touchscreen, 3.2MP auto-focus camera, 3.5mm jack and stereo Bluetooth. It also features GPS, fa ull HTML browser and  an onscreen QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode and SureType in portrait view.

source: Verizon Wireless

Engadget and Gizmodo have gotten some their hands on the Storm, and while they they had some gripes (size, browser) they came out impressed.

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1.
It's still coming with the 8GB card

1 GB of on board memory storage and 8 GB microSD memory card included in expandable memory card slot

Check it out!
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18.
Can u read? fanboy??
Reply to this comment
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24.
Sure I can... the original posting stated that Phonearena was unsure whether the phone was coming with an 8GB card...

Now go back and post on phonescoop
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #18 ( Show )
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27.
ur still wrong again can u read....1gb of mem only...fanboy......whats phonescoop? u fanboy
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #24 ( Show )
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32.
Hey, the 1GB memory refers to ONBOARD memory. U do know what that means right? Onboard memory and extended/expanded memory are 2 different things...!
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #27 ( Show )
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33.
Easy You 2 ..LOL..
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #27 ( Show )
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34.
i hate fanboys...its not coming with 8gb card...!
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #33 ( Show )
0
43.
u guys are so lame. granted its cool, its just a phone. wow
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #18 ( Show )
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46.
umm, hey smart guy, it is coming with an 8 gig memory card included with the phone.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #34 ( Show )
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56.
1GB INTERNAL MEMORY *AND* 8GB MICROSDHC CARD (REMOVABLE).
Reply to this comment
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62.
lol thats like the facebook of myspace. Phonescoop should be taken in the back and shot.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #24 ( Show )
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76.
isn't facebook better than myspace?
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #62 ( Show )
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84.
yes it is. i would know...
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #34 ( Show )
Reply to anonymous Hide 12 replies to this comment
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2.
Awesome. Fanboy fight coming soon. (Apple/AT&T Vs Blackberry/VZW)
0
58.
Too bad ATT doesn't have a "character" then we could send the VZW test man and the ATT guy on Jerry Springer haha
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Reply to anonymous Hide 1 replies to this comment
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3.
as long as vzw markets the storm by marketing the phone like att does to all their phones it will be a success. it all starts with marketing. prime example is how att did the razr and iphone ads. im a huge apple fan but i have had vzw service since prime co and dont see myself changing. vzw markets too much of the network and too little of the device. people would run out and buy the iphone or razr even if it started on MetroPCS. The ads are cool and thats what sells. a normal consumer is not going to run out and buy the storm if they get a 2 second glimpse of it and the other 28 seconds of the test man with the network behind them. vzw has had some great phones that they could of had people running to them for but market it wrong, 8700, xv6900, dare, z6tv, all great phones with no ads and no catchy name. just my thoughts....
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4.
When Verizon was still Airtouch, a corporate salesman told me "I am going to give you an advice that will always going to be true, it's always about the service and the network when it comes to mobile communication." Until this day, I still believe that he is right. There are people who wants a reliable network and service and those who wants more out of their hardware and software. iPhone, in my opinion is a fun toy with integrated communication ability. I see people play on their iPhone than communicate with their iPhone. The Storm seem like a nice phone (until a full review of course) and if it's a fun phone to use, perhaps, it is possible to have the best of both world, fun and reliable connection, goodluck RIM, there's a first for everything.
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5.
Looks kind of chunky...hope it's slimmer in person
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17.
it's .55 depth. go look at blackberrys website it shows how thin it is.
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Reply to anonymous Hide 1 replies to this comment
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6.
why won't verizon add their vcast music with rhapsody, vcast video, and vcast mobile t.v. to smartphones and blackberry. WHY?
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7.
They are slowly adding more Get It Now programs to Smartphones. ie VZ Nav and VCast Music on Q9M/C
Reply to this comment
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13.
does it have mobile tv???
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #7 ( Show )
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15.
look out soon for a new way to access those items on your smartphone.
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23.
The reason they are not on smartphones is because they leave it up to the manufacturer to add them to the phones. As far as I know VZW does not change around a lot of the operating system on smartphones, thats why you don't see the Verizon UI on smartphones. The Blackberry 8830 and Pearl were not capable of VZ Nav at first but it was something they added in later, and when they came out with the upgraded version w/ traffic, weather, and gas prices the smartphones did not get it right away because the manufacturers had to add the program themselves. I read an article on phonescoop a month or two ago that they were going to add vcast video to the smartphones, but i still haven't heard anything else about that
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31.
You can utilize Rhapsody on the device
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #7 ( Show )
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36.
No.... Sprint is doing a good job at that. They've got Sprint TV on their Pearl.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #13 ( Show )
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38.
No.... Sprint is doing a good job at that. They've got Sprint TV on their Pearl.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #13 ( Show )
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39.
Are you sure about that? Rhapsody can't even be used on all regular phones with the VZW UI.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #31 ( Show )
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53.
.....and the Curve, and the Mogul, and the Touch Diamond, and the Centro. Almost all of the Sprint smartphones support TV now.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #36 ( Show )
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86.
sprint's tv service is garbage compared to vzw's mobile tv. the resolution is terrible.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #38 ( Show )
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91.
I agree with that. I tried VZW's Mobile TV in Vegas during the X-Games. Totally cool but NOT something I would pay for month after month....
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #86 ( Show )
Reply to anonymous Hide 11 replies to this comment
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8.
Does anyone know if this phone will be like the RIM BB Bold in the sense that users can edit docs and not just view them?
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26.
Yes it will.
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37.
Are you sure?... It doesnt say that in the specs for the phone but it DOES say that in the specs for the Bold!
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #26 ( Show )
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50.
It is going to have Documents to Go, which is a reader/editor for BBs. So yes, it will have the ability to edit docs on it
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9.
Y'know how Blackberrys are usually made for gsm networks and they only let you text 160 in an sms? Well Verizon phones let you text well over 160, since it's exclusive for Verizon do you think the storm will let you text more that the usual 160?
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10.
That's in an incorrect statement about SMS limitations on GSM. CDMA(verizon's phones) have the same limit. It's the manufacturer that decides how big a txt message can be on their phone(if it's longer than 160 characters, it will simply be extended to a second or more txt message when sent).
Reply to this comment
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12.
actually, i have the voyager and when i send a text to my buddy more than 160 characters, who has at&t, i get a text message almost instently that says something like "you message has only been sent with the first 160 character". i think its sooo stupid, 160 charcters isnt that much!
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #10 ( Show )
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14.
the limit is imposed on messaging between different carriers, but you can text more than 160 characters between the same network.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #12 ( Show )
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19.
I had that problem when I had the VX8300 when I had Verizon. That's what you get for getting LG and Verizon.I have at&t and an SGH-i617 (Blackjack II) now and I don't have that problem with sending messages to any carrier.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #12 ( Show )
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20.
Yea it's so you spend more money on more texts... It's all about the benjamins baby
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #12