Research in Motion has today unveiled the BlackBerry Storm 2, successor to its original 2008 touchscreen handset.
The second-generation device, pictured below, will be available to UK customers exclusively from Vodafone on October 26th. Although expected to be available via other carriers at a later date, Vodafone will initially offer the Storm 2 for free on contracts priced from £35 per month.
Despite commercial success, the original BlackBerry Storm was subject to a poor reception from critics - with celebrity Stephen Fry famously branding the device as "embarrassingly awful".
Hoping to make amends, Research in Motion has equipped the Storm 2 with a number of upgrades, and is believed to have attempted to send the revised device to Fry for a second opinion.
The BlackBerry Storm 2 features a 3.25in touchscreen display that's backed by an "improved" implementation of RIM's controversial SurePress technology. Elsewhere, the handset has double the amount of built-in flash and onboard memory, now at 256MB and 2GB, respectively.
Changing the feel of the device, RIM has also moved the four physical buttons found on the front of the original Storm into part of the Storm 2's touchscreen. The buttons around the sides of the handset have also been improved, and, last but not least, the Storm 2 incorporates built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi technology.
Research in Motion's promotional video can be viewed below, and a direct feature comparison between the Storm and the Storm 2 can be found at BlackBerry.com.
