RIM’s BlackBerry Storm touchscreen ‘coming soon’ to Verizon Wireless

The BlackBerry Storm – the first touchscreen device from Research In Motion Ltd. – appears ready for landing at Verizon Wireless, which is both advertising the device and demurring from providing details.
The device is called the BlackBerry Storm 9530 Smartphone “with global capabilities,” potentially indicating GSM/CDMA support, and one can sign up for e-mail alerts on its availability by going to www.verizonwireless.com/storm.
But the carrier said today that there’s no official word on its launch date or pricing.
The Storm presumably will join a number of touchscreen handsets due this fall as a number of handset vendors deliver what few will admit are iPhone-like follow-on products. The Storm could be particularly important for Verizon Wireless, which has battled rival AT&T Wireless, the exclusive carrier for Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
As smartphones in general have taken off and RIM in particular has grown to sell one in ten handsets in the United States, expectations for the year-end quarter have been high. But with Nokia Corp. reporting earlier this month that its third quarter would reflect “weaker consumer confidence in multiple markets” and a widening financial crisis hitting Wall Street, the fate of a spate of high-end, touchscreen devices hitting the market in the weeks to come hangs in the air.