Blackberry Storm 2 Strikes on October 28

With the benefit of less attention and hype, Research in Motion is set to release the Blackberry Storm 2 on Wednesday. This is the second foray into a full touch-screen smartphone for RIM, whose original Blackberry Storm was expected to be an iPhone killer before reviewers actually got their hands on it. It looks like the Storm 2 will right some of the Storm’s previous wrongs, adding Wi-Fi and upgrading the SurePress “clickable” display technology. Instead of having a display that depresses, SurePress now sends out electronic feedback under the user’s fingers to simulate the feeling of a click. There’s also multi-touch this time around, letting you hit more than one key at the same time.

Specs include a 3.25-inch, 480 x 360 resolution LCD display, 256 of Flash memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 2 GB of onboard media storage, a MicroSD/SDHD card slot good for another 16 GB, Bluetooth, GPS and a battery that supposedly provides up to 5.5 hours of talk time. Updates to Blackberry’s 5.0 OS provide inertial scrolling (fun!), more animations and a faster Web browser. Plus you get access to Blackberry App World, whose selection RIM promises are “broad and growing.” It’s still a Verizon Wireless phone, and you’ll need a two year contract to get the subsidized price of $179. [via CNet and Verizon Wireless]