TORONTO (Reuters)- Research In Motion will roll out a touch-screen model of itsBlackBerry smartphone later this fall, thrusting it into directcompetition with Apple’s popular iPhone.
RIM said on Wednesday the BlackBerry Storm will be availableexclusively to Verizon Wireless subscribers in the U.S. and Vodafonesubscribers in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand.
RIM’s launch of a touch-screen BlackBerry is not a surprise.Technology bloggers and analysts have speculated since early this yearthat the Waterloo, Ontario-based company was working on such a device.And late last month, Verizon Wireless sent out a promotional e-mailthat heralded its arrival.
The Storm — the latest BlackBerry aimed at the broad retail market– comes with a touch screen that depresses slightly when it ispressed, RIM said, adding users will feel a soft click as the screen isreleased.
"This clickable interface is like an engineering marvel," RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in an interview. "It is revolutionary."
Analysts have said that as RIM continues to push into the broaderconsumer market, beyond the executives and other professionals thathave been its mainstay, it will see increased competition from otherhandset makers. RIM has consistently brushed off such concerns and itssubscriber growth has backed up its confidence.
The Storm also comes preloaded with software for e-mail and managingdocuments, as well as a media player for music, movies and photos. It’salso equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera.
RIM did not announce a specific release date for the Storm, nor did it offer details on pricing.
The Storm’s planned launch comes shortly after RIM said it will rollout a flip-phone version of the BlackBerry to capture more of theretail market.
Launching new, next-generation devices is squeezing RIM’s grossmargins because of higher costs. And in order to keep luring newsubscribers, the company has to make sure its devices are pricedattractively.
That has limited the company’s ability to pass along the higher costs of making new devices to its customers.
(Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Rob Wilson)
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