AT&T might have gotten its hands on the BlackBerry Bold 9000 (although it hasn't released it yet), but Verizon Wireless is apparently getting ready to launch and even cooler RIM smartphone. Dubbed BlackBerry 9530 Storm, the device in question seems to be the same as what was previously known under the name of BlackBerry 9500 or BlackBerry Thunder. Thus, we're talking about RIM's first touchscreen handset, which should hit the market by the end of 2008.

 

A recently leaked image that presents the box in which Verizon will ship the Storm comes in to give us precious details about the handset. Seen over at Engadget Mobile, the image not only makes the Storm's upcoming arrival at Verizon almost official, but it also unveils the fact that the smartphone will be offered with an 8GB microSD card in the package (like Nokia's latest N85 dual slider).

 

These aspects aside, the Storm should be a great multimedia device, but little is known about its actual capabilities (save for the existence of a 3.5mm headset jack).

 

Back to the aforementioned Bold – even if it wants to, Verizon cannot offer it to its customers, because RIM built the QWERTY smartphone to work only on GSM and HSDPA networks (and Verizon is all about CDMA and EV-DO). So a logical response to AT&T's Bold is the new Storm, which might actually compete with Apple's iPhone 3G too (also released via AT&T), since it's a full-touch handset.

 

Anyway, we had better wait for official details about Verizon's Storm to come out and then see what the handset is capable of.

 

It is unclear yet whether RIM (or Verizon) will present the new touchscreen handset anytime soon. But, since its box is already "designed", US mobile users who might desperately want the first touchscreen BlackBerry to come to life will probably not have too much to wait.