Vodafone Just Made the BlackBerry Storm 2 Official

And finally the official press release of the BlackBerry Storm 2 is here, earlier than expected. Vodafone just announced the BlackBerry Storm 2 9520. The phone comes with BlackBerry OS 5 and new SurePress Technology has significantly enhanced the phone both hardware and software. Customers in the UK and Ireland will be the first to get the phone through Vodafone, and will be followed by Germany, Netherlands and Spain. France, Italy and South Africa will get the phone in time for Christmas.

Vodafone UK will be offering the BlackBerry Storm2 free from £35 per month on a 24-month contract that includes 600 minutes talk-time, unlimited BlackBerry Internet Service, unlimited text messaging, as well as unlimited access to VMI (Vodafone Mobile Internet) and broadband.

Read the full press release of the Vodafone BlackBerry Storm 2!

Hardware Features

• 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 World™, 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

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