While the launch of the BlackBerry Storm2 on Verizon is widely expected to take place on October 28th and the Bold 9700 is so close we can almost taste it, owners of current generation BlackBerry smartphones  — the Pearl Flip 8220/8230, Curve 8330/8350i/8900, Bold 9000, Storm 9500/9530 and Tour 9630 — should be pleased to note that RIM is all set for the launch OS 5.0. Specific dates aren’t easily pinned down as it more or less depends on the device one has and the carrier one is with, but thanks to our connects we know, for example, that Verizon will be dropping for the OS 5.0 for the Storm 9530 tomorrow evening with a fall back date set for Monday. Those that don’t have Desktop Manager set up on either their PC or Mac might want to get everything ready ahead of time as it looks for the most part that OTA software updates will not be made available. Oh well. OS 5.0 is oh so worth the hassle.

It seems like only yesterday that Verizon gave the general public a first taste of the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s first and currently only touchscreen phone. If you’re a late adopter, we have awesome news for you: Verizon has reduced the price of a brand spankin’ new Storm to just $49.99 on a 2-year contract. Oh, and the latest buy-one-get-one-free deal we scooped is still going on, too. So what’s with all the BlackBerry deals intended to clear store shelves? At this point it seems pretty obvious but if you’re a bit slow on the uptake, allow us to spell it out for you. Yeah, you read our minds.

[Via PhoneArena]

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According to iSuppli, the cool cats that live to shed insight on the total dollar value of components in electronic devices, RIM’s BlackBerry Storm has about $203 worth of mediocrity jammed into its bulky frame. Want some specifics? $15 for the SurePress screen, $35 for the Qualcomm MSM7600 and $13 for the 3.2 megapixel shooter. $203 might not sound like too much, but it’s significantly more than the $169 of the Bold or the $174 of the iPhone 3G when you consider how many of these things are being churned out. Now we’re not too sure how these three phones would rank if we were to include the money spent on R&D, shipping, packaging, training, patents, etc, etc, into the costs of each handset, but we’re willing to wager that the Storm would be a pretty strong candidate for number one given that RIM shifted its entire focus this year from the Bold to the Storm and has spent vast sums of money on advertising and lavish launch parties. The silver lining? As time goes on RIM will be able to save a lot in production costs considering how many Storms were (allegedly) returned in the infancy of its life cycle thus giving them a vast supply of refurbs. And cue iPhone vs Storm nerd fight part MCCXLIV in the comments.

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We figured that instead of making you comb the internets trying to hunt down the latest information on the BlackBerry Storm, we’d compile a nice recap of sorts. Some of it is new exclusive information, and some of it is just other things that have been floating around. Let’s get into it…

• We’ve heard that Vodafone UK has absolutely no intention of selling the Storm to BES users until 2009. We’re not exactly clear on this (since the two Vodafone Storms we have were converted to a business BES account after purchase), but we believe it means that there will be no direct-to-business sales of the handset. Not that you couldn’t as an individual purchase one and simply add a BES plan and convert it to a business account. We’re told that the reason of the hold-up is that Vodafone is worried the device, with the on-going hardware and software issues, isn’t up to snuff for their corporate users.
• For more information on the issues with the Vodafone BlackBerry Storm, hit Vodafone’s forum. You’ll see an enormous amount of complaints about signal reception, buttons falling off, and software issues.
• BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.75 seems to be floating around in some circles. There’s been a ton of misinformation out there, but the update appears to be real, and is currently NOT — let’s stress the word, “NOT” — available to the general public. As many times as you might try to check for updates in Desktop Manager or in the Upgrade portion of Options on your device, you won’t get anything at the moment. We’ll obviously keep you updated on this, but don’t get your hopes up just yet.
• Some BlackBerry Storm users have complained about the difficulty of pressing edges of the touch panel on their devices. It’s a mixed bag, and out of the five Storms we’ve had, two were perfect and three were terrible. We noted this in our review, and the remedy seems to be inserting business cards or paper (you believe this?) underneath the battery or on top of the battery under the battery door. Don’t bother. Just return them and get them swapped out. It’s not your problem, it’s their problem.
• In terms of unlocking the BlackBerry Storm, you’ll have a much easier time getting the unlock code from Verizon. It’s rather simple, really. As long as you have an account that is current with no past due charges and the device on your account, you can call Verizon’s Global Support number and request an unlock code for the handset. Nine times out of ten they’ll give you the code while you are still on the phone. Easy. As. Pie.

Read [BGR's BlackBerry Storm review]

Read [Vodafone's eForum]

Gather around, kids, because you’re in for the most special of treats! In lieu of unboxing our very own BlackBerry Storm, we though we’d leave it to the real pros: the British working class! Enjoy the best BlackBerry Storm unboxing video. Ever.

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Finally some good news for our friends from in the land of tea, top hats and posh accents: the BlackBerry Storm is out and available for purchase through retail channels. Free on all contract-based tariffs over £35 a month, the Storm is reportedly flying off the shelves of High Street shops. If you were one of the smart people who pre-ordered a Storm then there’s a good chance yours will arrive in time for you to show it off tonight at the clubs to anyone within sight. If you weren’t one of the people who had the foresight to pre-order the Storm then chalk this up as life lesson. For those of you who’ve been living under a rock for the past few months and don’t know much about the Storm then here’s the quickest synopsis on the net — it’s a 3G BlackBerry that has a 3.25″ touchscreen with SurePress, GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and you’ll soon see it everywhere, m’kay?

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Well, it looks like the Verizon Storm Challenge went down in Times Square as scheduled yesterday but not everything went according to plan. You remember the deal right? Contestants step into a booth one at a time and a whirlwind of cards is blown around them. Each contestant who can manage to snag at least seven black BlackBerry Storm cards wins a shiny new Storm (once released) and a $50 VZW gift card. According to the accounts of some people at the event, the reps in charge of the booth managed to screw the pooch big time. At the start, things were running smoothly but after a while, no one was winning. We’re talking about a loooooong losing streak here – like, the polar opposite of Nick Papagiorgio. Finally when the crowd got restless enough and it looked like no remaining contestants could possibly win, a rep decided to look into the situation. Yup, you guessed it… There supposedly weren’t enough black Storm cards in the booth. Smooth Verizon, real smooth. Once the realization was made, reps tossed in 25 black cards and the next two contestants in line won. Go figure. The kicker in all this is that the many annoyed people who were still around after learning they participated and couldn’t possibly have won, were not allowed to get back in line and try again! Well, sorry to those who basically got screwed. Hopefully things will go a bit smoother when the Challenge hits the next city in line…

[Thanks, Robert!]

The Blackberry Storm hit the Verizon Wireless staging testman website with pricing and details! It’s coming in about where we expected – $219 with a 2 year contract, $289 with a 1 year contract and whopping $519 for full retail. Remember, this is just the staging site so it’s entirely possible that things will change. In fact, the price does not include any rebates or New Every Two discounts so the final price out the door on the launch date will surely be lower. Sweet! Unfortunately, the page does not contain a release date but we expect a formal announcement from Verizon very soon now that it’s up on the test site. Check out the read link to see for yourself (enter 85001 as your zip) and hit the jump for some more screen shots showing the 1-year and full retail pricing.

Thanks, Matrix 2004!

[Via Howard Forums]

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The nation’s soon-to-be largest wireless carrier has inadvertently shed some light on one of the biggest questions on the minds of anxious Storm fans across the country. Thanks to the contest terms and conditions regarding Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm scavenger hunt taking place in New York, it looks like the Approximate Retail Value (ARV) is set at a relatively reasonable $499. To quote the terms exactly:

Prizes: Daily Grand Prizes (50): A BlackBerry “Storm” 9500 Smartphone and a $50 Verizon Wireless gift card Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $549 each

$499 of course represents the handset cost before any carrier subsidies or mail-in rebates are factored in. Once the Storm get its discounts on, it looks like we should be in store for a pretty competitive 2-year contract price. Sweet – now all we have to do is wait for VZW to, umm, actually release the phone. To check out the full terms for yourself, hit the read link and then click the NYC Storm Hunt link in the lower left corner.

[Via RIMarkable]

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If there’s one thing we can say about the Storm pricing Vodafone announced earlier today, it’s that the company definitely provides a nice wide range of options for customers with varied budgets. Don’t expect the same options stateside people, it’s just not our style. Our friends across the pond who pre-order the device online will be happy to know that said orders will be fulfilled on or around November 11. Woo! So let’s talk pricing:

• £300 (US $495): 12-month contract, starting at £40/month
• FREE: 18-month contract, starting at £40/month
• FREE: 24-month contract, starting at £35/month

Wow. Not bad at all considering these are launch prices for one of the most highly-anticipated phones of the year. A free Storm with a two-year contract at $58/month? We’ll take two, thanks. Also of note, customers who snag a Best for Talk or Best for Text plan will enjoy free unlimited internet and email along with a free six-month trial of Vodafone’s Find&Go satellite navigation service.

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With the Storm coming out soon, Blackberry is throwing a little shindig in Los Angeles later this evening with Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age providing the entertainment! A few who were in the know sent text messages to a specific number to try to win tickets to the show. The following morning, the winners were sent text messages with instructions on how to get into the show. Guess who’s going to be there? That’s right, the BGR team will be putting up pictures and giving you updates live from the party so be sure to check back here every so often after 7:30PM PST! Anyone else in the L.A. area going to the show? Hit us up!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

We’ve known for a while that it was coming, but nothing says it’s going to be here soon like, well, the words “Coming soon.” This ad has just appeared on the Wall Street Journal as well as other newspapers this morning. Other carriers (Vodafone) have made their official announcements for Blackberry’s first-ever touch screen and it’s been rearing its head on VZW’s site, but nothing says “official” like a full page ad on one of the most widely read publications out there. Expect a flood coming along with the Storm as this is likely just the beginning of a slew of ads to come from Verizon!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Fanboys, as hard as it is to resist saying something slick, we’ll leave the commentary for the last quote to you.

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After all of the cool Storm promo material we saw yesterday, Vodafone flicked the live switch on their “interactive” Storm website, allowing anyone who cares to read and see way less than what they already know about the soon to be announced phone – that is unless you aren’t a dork who regularly reads this website, in which case all of this new and exciting to you. The website runs over the main features of the phone in a very irritating way and has the feel of pathetically desperate press website from a startup rather than an interactive product page from two major companies. (Does anyone else think the background noise was ripped straight from Everyone Loves Hypnotoad?) Vodafone also released a totally gimp spec sheet. Thanks for nothing, Vodafone! We’ll you see you on the playground, at three O’CLOCK.

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Apologies in advance to everyone who is sick and bloody tired of all of the Storm coverage as of late, but something as highly anticipated as the Storm has to be covered, right? Leaked out today was the Vodafone Storm launch video and it’s easily one the hippest videos we’ve ever seen to launch a mobile phone. It covers all of the main features of the phone like it’s accurate typing, horizontal/vertical screen layout, 3.2 megapixel camera, preloaded IM and social network apps, HTML browwer, media player, and all of the other goodness that the BlackBerry brand bring to mind. The only bad thing about the video is the ending tag line of “Incredible Power In Your Hands.” We’re not even going to go there…

- BG: This video is fire. RIM, please don’t let Verizon muck up the U.S. version of it. Kthanks. Also anyone notice the BlackBerry Storm ads Verizon is running on BGR? No official announcement yet they have a whole ad campaign… funny.

[Via StormReviews]