Vodafone Group has launched the BlackBerry Storm smartphone from Research In Motion, which is a result of the long-term strategic alliance between the two companies. The BlackBerry Storm is the first ever ‘clickable’ touch screen smartphone and will be available exclusively on Vodafone’s high speed 3G mobile broadband network in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand from next month. Also, the BlackBerry Storm will be available exclusively from Verizon Wireless in the US.

The BlackBerry Storm smartphone incorporates BlackBerry smartphone features like e-mail, messaging, multi-media and Internet capabilities and revolutionises the user experience with the introduction of a large touch screen and virtual keyboard.

"We are delighted to bring the power of the BlackBerry Storm, purpose built for Vodafone, directly into the hands of consumer and business customers," says Frank H Rovekamp, global chief marketing officer, Vodafone Group. "The BlackBerry Storm is equipped with a clickable touch screen, giving access to various multi-media features and services such as browsing, music and video and turn by turn satellite navigation, messaging and social networking."

Coming in a sleek and elegant black design, the BlackBerry Storm smartphone brings together messaging services including e-mail, SMS and MMS in a single inbox and alerts from social networks. It has a high performance browser, which delivers users a high speed Web browsing experience, with desktop-style depiction in either portrait or landscape view. The new user interface combines the familiar 'menu' and 'escape' keys common to BlackBerry smartphones and adds support for multi-touches, taps and slides allowing the user to easily highlight, scroll, pan and zoom.

The 3.25" screen gives users a variety of experiences. Despite its flat surface, users feel the sensation of actually pressing down on virtual keys, which also light up when touched. This makes it easy to type texts and e-mails as well as navigate through the phone’s functions.

The BlackBerry Storm will be available from next month through Vodafone stores as well as independent outlets and online. Full pricing details will be available in the coming weeks.