Research In Motion has finally gone official with its much-talked-about BlackBerry Storm, via a press release filled with highly optimistic statements. Before we go on with analyzing the official features of the smartphone, we have to mention that, as you probably already knew, the Storm will only be available via Verizon (in the US) and Vodafone (across Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand). 

Obviously, Verizon's BlackBerry Storm is a CDMA phone, while Vodafone's is a GSM one, both being capable of high-data transfer speeds, via their EV-DO and respectively HSDPA connectivity. 

Being the first touchscreen handset made by RIM, the Storm had to come with a bit more that just a touch interface. Hence, it offers a "clickable" touchscreen, which should allow users to have a 'physical button feel' when the display is pressed. 

The main features of BlackBerry Storm, at first glance, are:

- 3.25 inch TFT touchscreen light sensing display with 480 x 360 pixels
- On-screen keyboard – full QWERTY in landscape mode and SureType QWERTY in portrait mode
- Built-in GPS
- Full HTML browser
- Push email
- BlackBerry Enterprise Server, BlackBerry Internet Service, BlackBerry Unite! and BlackBerry Professional Software
- DataViz Documents to Go
- 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus, variable zoom, geotagging and flash 
- Media player with support for many formats
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
- Password protection and screen lock
- 1GB internal memory, expandable via microSD and microSDHC cards up to 16GB 

BlackBerry Storm comes with iPhonesque measures: 4.43 x 2.45 x 0.55 inches (112.5 x 62.2 x 13.95 millimeters), but it's a bit heavier, weighing 5.5 ounces (155 grams). The handset's battery is said to provide up to 5.5 hours of talk-time or up to 15 days of stand-by time. 

Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at RIM, said about the new Berry: "We are proud to introduce the first touch-screen based BlackBerry smartphone together with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. 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. Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface."

Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless, also declared: "The BlackBerry Storm offers our customers more ways to stay connected to both their personal and professional lives – whether in their communities or around the globe. The BlackBerry Storm combines the reliability of our 3G network with the dependability and network efficiency of the BlackBerry platform to deliver our customers the ultimate wireless experience – all in one of the coolest smartphones available on the market today."

And finally, Vodafone's Global Chief Marketing Officer, Frank H. Rovekamp, said: "With its unique clickable touch-screen, giving access to all the desirable multimedia features and services such as browsing, music and video, turn-by-turn satellite navigation, messaging and social networking, and BlackBerry’s mobile heritage and strong business reputation, the BlackBerry Storm is being brought by Vodafone into the consumer world. With Vodafone’s ultra high-speed, reliable mobile network and this exclusive and exciting new smartphone, there has never been a better time to be with Vodafone."

The release date and the price of BlackBerry Storm are yet to be confirmed, but RIM said the new smartphone would be on sale "later this fall," so Verizon and Vodafone users will surely have it before Christmas.

Here is an official video demo with Vodafone's Storm: