Verizon Wireless presented new details about the release of Research in Motion’s new BlackBerry Storm, the company’s answer to the popular 3G iPhone. The new device will be available in stores starting with November 21 and its price has been set at $250 on a two-year contract with the carrier. The companies agreed on a $50 mail-in rebate, which will bring the device’s price down to $199.99, placing it in the same price category with Apple’s product.

Even though many believed that Verizon and RIM will not be able to match AT&T’s and Apple’s offer, the announcement proved the opposite, as the two companies decided on making their offer as competitive as possible, covering every aspect. There are still some concerns about the phone’s performances and whether it will be able to live up to the high expectations but about a week we’ll all know.

RIM announced the release last month, saying that the device will surely be available before the holiday season. So far everything seems to be going according to plan and the company’s first touchscreen BlackBerry might make all the difference in terms of sales in the year’s fourth quarter.

The 2007 release of the iPhone caused a huge impact on the market, inspiring many companies to develop their own touchscreen devices. Nokia developed its own touchscreen phone and so did HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung, each taking certain elements from the phone that started it all but also adding their own touch with new features. This segment of the market still has a lot to offer for its consumers and many companies already announced the work on new devices scheduled for release in 2009. Considering the fact that the iPhone is the one that started this trend, it is expected that every single new release will be immediately compared to Apple’s product, and this is why all manufacturers involved in the business keep looking to top it, whether in the design category, the features, performance or all at the same time.

The Storm has a GPS receiver and a 3.2 mega pixel camera with flash, while its 1400 mAh battery will ensure about six hours of talk time on 3G networks or 15 days of standby time. It features a 3.25-inch, 360-by-480-pixel display, offering both landscape and portrait support. The screen was designed to support multi-touches, taps, slides and other gestures, which will allow users to highlight, scroll, pan, and zoom. The device will come equipped with an 8 Giga Bytes microSD memory card, that can be exchanged with a 16 GB version.

Dawn Bratton, manager of Data Sales for Verizon, talked to The Tech Herald about the new device and said that the business customers invited to test the Storm appeared extremely excited with its design and features. "We're waiting for the doors to bust open," she said. "They want it because it's new and they want it because it's BlackBerry. For those who are carrying World Edition [BlackBerry 8830], this one is one better."