Vodafone puts BlackBerry Storm2 up for 26 October preorder

And it's out. The BlackBerry Storm2 just made its first official carrier appearance with Vodafone. The promising followup to the much maligned BlackBerry Storm will be free on pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up. Specs include a 3.25-inch 360 x 480 pixel capacitive SurePress (new and improved) touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA data, 256MB of flash memory (double that of the original Storm), 2GB of onboard memory with microSDHC expansion, 3.5-mm standard headset jack, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and 1400mAh battery giving about 6 hours of 3G talk. BlackBerry OS 5 too, of course, when it lands on October 15th in the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain -- France, Italy, and South Africa in time for Christmas.

Update: Now on official RIM page too with a detailed comparison against the original Storm.

Vodafone and RIM introduce the BlackBerry Storm2 Smartphone

[Thanks, James]

Read -- Press Release
Read -- Pre-order

[Psyg Posted Oct 15th 2009 4:42AM]

Firstly the blackberry team needs some new designers, these are becoming a joke!

Secondly, I wanna move to the UK!! Sheez they always get the stuff first and at a better price!

[jengadget Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:28PM]

Will AT&T ever get the blackberry storm 2 ( or any equivalent)

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:59PM]

Yes.. read the comparison link on the post. It shows that the 850 band is supported on the Storm 2. THEREFORE, it will work on At&t, so odds are it will offered for them.

[The Prince Posted Oct 15th 2009 4:44AM]

I have to disagree, this doesnt look too bad at all. However, software does need a major upgrade soon, that browser is just bad. Nonetheless, one of the phones I plan on playing with when released. Maybe they got the clicking screen to actually work this time round

[PJLee Posted Oct 15th 2009 4:46AM]

I think the phone looks fine. It's just following the form factor of it's predecessor. It does already make me feel a wee bit inadequate with my Storm though.

[coolblue2000 Posted Oct 15th 2009 4:48AM]

I love my storm however the one thing that baffles me about it is the tiny app storage it has. Have they fixed it on this to allow the apps to be stored in either the internal memory or sd card? I only have about 7 apps installed and my app storage is full!

[MRCUR Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:20AM]

I believe OS 5 adds the ability to store apps on an SD card. But BB apps are also ridiculously small, so space shouldn't be an issue for a while.

[DariaMorgendorffer Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:27AM]

£35 a month ain't bad but sucky browser and SureFail put me off this otherwise nice looking thingy

[daaper Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:25AM]

Crap, you tried the SurePress and it's still no good? I can get over the browser by just downloading bolt or opera, but I was counting on the new screen being better. The typing looked so much better in that video too....damn.

[ZbHRP Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:30AM]

Good Mossberg good :)

[Nerd With Out A Cause Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:58AM]

I not saying anything about the quality of the device but this thing was leaked all the way back in may. Rim how do all your devices get leaked so thoroughly like people getting the device 5 months before its announced?

[KennyR Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:19AM]

Hmm, the bottom of the phone says "Qualcomm 3G CDMA", doesn't the Vzw version have to say that?!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:15PM]

What exactly do you mean? The first one says the same thing.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:30AM]

I had a Storm 1. I think I will pass on Storm 2.

[Canucker Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:53PM]

What? Even with its patented "EvenMoreSureThanBeforePress" technology? I'll wait for the Storm 3 with its "ReallyProbablyQuiteConfidentPossiblyPress" technology. Fur sure.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:49AM]

I am definitely interested to see how it shakes out. I simply refuse to get an iPhone as long as it is on AT&T, so this may be what I'm looking for in the meantime.

[Tres Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:54AM]

These engadget editors are getting shoddy, the title is only half there, it should have been "Vodafone puts BlackBerry Storm2 up for 26 October preorder, nobody cares"

[das boot Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:11AM]

meh, after being an early adopter of the original blackberry storm and being highly disappointed at all the slowness and glitches, its a sure bet this storm2 will also will be a dud. I'm much happier with my iphone 3GS which can pretty much do everything except get me a date, sigh :(
Will I ever know what love is?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:28AM]

Heh, not with that iPoser... I mean, iCrap... I mean, iPhone, you won't...

... unless you pick up Pepsi's Pick-Up Line App (Free from the App Store & Pepsi's website)...

Oh, wait... nope, you still won't.

[das boot Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:37AM]

I guess its time to become a switch-hitter, then.

[RafterManFMJ Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:34PM]

...and sheep everywhere became more fearful.

[Ghen Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:53AM]

Did anyone read the comparison?

Apparently the Storm 1 doesn't have a color screen among other typos...

[Canucker Posted Oct 15th 2009 1:20PM]

Yes, but the comparison chart also notes that the Storm1 was weightless too. I kinda liked that feature.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 10:27AM]

So, I was viewing the comparison and maybe its not as updated as it should be, it states that the first Storm does not have a color screen... odd.
and lol at shopping post!

[rakeshin Posted Oct 15th 2009 10:28AM]

my girlfriend has storm 1. it was useless before the first update but after the update i kinda liked it but the lack of wifi was a majot setback. the clicky screen is good actually and unlike many capacitive screen smartphones, it was very easy to get around. you will just know where to find things on this phone. one very annoying thing though.. the device lock is a joke. when ever i press lock and use any of the bottom row keys, it unlocks itself which crashes the whole point of locking. there could be a fix somewhere but my never bothered to fix it as its not my phone

[zviera Posted Oct 15th 2009 11:24AM]

Only way to unlock BB Storm 9530 from Telus is to
press unlock button again. You must have some dummy model.

[Austin520 Posted Oct 15th 2009 2:57PM]

If it is the Vodafone model, then why does it say "Qualcomm 3G CDMA" on the bottom?
Usually Verizon models will say that but I wouldn't expect this to be dual CDMA and GSM if it is for European release only.

[droidustin Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:50PM]

So, now that this bad boy is "official" can we get some "official" hardware specs out of it? I'm not talking SurePress, Wifi and all that noise. No, I want to know what kind of processor this thing is shipping with, what can it handle?

[blewis1041 Posted Oct 20th 2009 5:03PM]

Can someone answer me a stupid (but sincere) question? Why in the world do you need wifi on your phone when the only time you need to use wifi is when you can't get a phone signal, and when almost all wifi requires you to pay for same? Am I missing something?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 6:22PM]

I've already weathered one STORM, i rather not tempt fate.

[TankerZ Posted Oct 15th 2009 7:01PM]

According to the chart this phone does all of the Networks including 3G on AT&T? Are they not referring to the 9520 GSM model, or is is the 9550 going to be an all in one? Does Verizon promote this as an exclusive (Like the Storm 1)? Because if no, then it must be going out to other carriers (In the US).

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 17th 2009 8:03PM]

Hey look!!! The storm 1 doesn't have a color screen!! According to the comparision...