BlackBerry Storm2 hits Vodafone

There’s a legion of fans of the BlackBerry Storm who’ve all been waiting with nigh on baited breath to find out about the next Storm handset.

And here it is. It’s the ‘Storm2’ and it’s being ranged by many of Vodafone’s European countries, along with South Africa — and, of course, the United Kingdom.

The Storm2 has a new ‘SurePress’ touchscreen that delivers tactile feedback upon touch. Applying gentle pressure anywhere on the surface makes ‘clicking’ practically effortless. That’s what BlackBerry say, anyway — so I’m looking forward to giving it a shot.

For those of you desperate to check out the specs, here we go, straight from the press release:

Smooth design and premium finish with sloped edges, chrome accents, glass lens and stainless steel backplate
Large (3.25”), dazzling, high resolution 360 x 480 display at 184 ppi
Capacitive touch-screen with integrated functions (Send, End, Menu, Escape) and new SurePress technology that makes clicking the display practically effortless
Global connectivity support: UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz), quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM and Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g) networks
3.2 MP camera with variable zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording
256 MB of Flash memory
2 GB of onboard memory storage and a microSD/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 16 GB cards today and is expected to support 32 GB cards when available
Premium and easy-to-access phone features, background noise suppression technology, loud distortion-free speakerphone and face detection (proximity sensor) that prevents accidental clicks and blanks the screen while the user is on the phone
Media player for videos, pictures and music, plus BlackBerry® Desktop Manager for both PCs and Macs, and BlackBerry® Media Sync for easily syncing iTunes® and Windows Media® Player music with the smartphone*
Vodafone’s music client pre-installed, giving access to an extensive catalogue of artists
A 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and dedicated volume controls
Bluetooth® (2.1) with support for Secure Simple Pairing, hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals
Built-in GPS for maps and other location-based applications, as well as photo geotagging
Access to BlackBerry App Worldâ„¢, featuring a broad and growing catalog of mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. Categories include games, entertainment, IM and social networking, news, weather, productivity and more. Applications developed for the original BlackBerry Storm are fully compatible with the BlackBerry Storm2
BlackBerry® Internet Service and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support
Removable, rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery that provides approximately 6 hours of talk time on 3G networks and 280 hours of standby time

Also expect the following features from BlackBerry OS 5:

More responsive experience and includes usability and visual enhancements such as inertial scrolling, spin boxes that make it easier to set dates and times, gradient shading on buttons and more use of animation

Typing accuracy and selection have been significantly refined
BlackBerry® Browser improved with faster JavaScript and CSS processing as well as support for Gears and BlackBerry Widgets

Customers running BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5 will gain the ability to:
– Set follow-up Flags on the handset like they can in Microsoft® Office Outlook®
– Manage Microsoft Exchange email folders (Add, Rename, Move, Delete) on the handset
– Access remote files shares (Windows Shares); Save, View, Edit, and Email documents from remote file shares
– Forward appointments and view calendar attachments on the handset
– Benefit from wireless sync improvements for Contacts, including sync for multiple contact folders, personal Distribution Lists and contacts in Public/Shared folders

And the crucial question: How much?

Well, as an example, expect to be able to get the device free on a Vodafone UK £35/month contract.

But if you were thinking an 18-month contract, think again. No. This is a 2-year deal…

You should be able to pick one up shortly.