Blackberry Storm lands 14th November - with plenty of stock

Despite some hopes that the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm 9500 might be arriving in stores tomorrow, Vodafone has confirmed next Friday 14th November as the official on sale date, from free on £35 two-year contract with unlimited Internet and email.

Intriguingly, the website is saying that pre-orders will be delivered by 18th November but having spoken to Vodafone this afternoon we've been assured that phones will be going out to everyone who pre-ordered on the 14th - although "such is the demand" that it could take up to four days to reach them. Thankfully there are ways to snare one earlier, so read on.

If the 18th is too long to wait then we've been told that there will be plenty of stock in stores come launch day. If you want to be doubly sure of getting your hands on one you can leave a £20 deposit in any Vodafone store to pick one up on the day. We're also told the deposit is refundable should you change your mind.

Phones 4U is the only other retailer that will be selling the Storm. It's also taking pre-orders, which it promises to get out by Tuesday 11th - three days ahead of Vodafone's launch day. We've put a call in to the Phones 4U press office to check this so we'll let you know if we get confirmation. Vodafone customer services has also said some of its pre-orders may go out as soon as the 11th although there's no guarantee of this.

Meanwhile, as we've come to expect from these launches, Vodafone's press office is reporting huge demand for the Storm. We were told that "tens of thousands" of people pre-registered their interest on Vodafone.co.uk, which has translated into a "really good" conversion into actual sales.

Update: We had some hands-on time with the BlackBerry Storm earlier today and although we didn’t get long to play with it, it did make a positive first impression. It feels well-made and the screen is very clear and vibrant. The capacitive touch screen feels great under the finger and works in a similar way to the new Apple MacBook touchpads. Tapping works in the usual way, but pressing harder results in a tactile click – the entire screen is mounted on a mechanical switch and while it feels a little odd, it's an interesting feature that we can't wait to try out properly. .

Vodafone says that there’ll be another software update before the Storm goes on sale and it appears to need it – the touch-screen was nowhere near as responsive as we’d like and there seemed to be a few problems getting it to behave properly with the web browser.

We’re hoping to get a BlackBerry Storm in for review sometime next week, so keep your eyes peeled for a full review very shortly.In the meantime, here's the full press release:

Vodafone UK Launches Exclusive BlackBerry Storm

06 November 2008

The highly anticipated Blackberry® Storm 9500, the first ever touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone, purpose built exclusively for Vodafone, will be available to buy from 14th November. Available on a range of high value price-plans, the device offers consumers and business customers easy access to voice and email, a range of social media applications, multimedia content, satellite navigation and many other services on the move.

Customers who want to be the first in the UK to have a BlackBerry Storm can pre-order in Vodafone stores, online at www.vodafone.co.uk/storm and telesales, and account managers for our business customers from November 14. It will also be available for sale through Vodafone’s retail partner Phones 4U in store and online.

“We know customers are excited about the Storm and the early pre-orders really emphasise this. We continue to take orders and are excited that customers are responding so enthusiastically,” commented Ian Shepherd, consumer director, Vodafone UK. “Our customers told us that they wanted a single phone that would give them the most secure, reliable email and messaging experience possible combined with all the desirable smartphone features, and at a price that’s affordable. The BlackBerry Storm has delivered all of this and more and will give our customers incredible power in their hands to make the most of now.”

One of the first reviews has been carried out by the Gadget Show's, Jason Bradbury.

Ian Shepherd, Consumer Director, Vodafone UK comments on the BlackBerry Storm.

Download full product specifications (PDF 96kb).

The BlackBerry Storm pricing starts from free on a two year contract at £35 per month on a Best for Text plan that will include 600 minutes and unlimited texts*. Go to www.vodafone.co.uk/storm for more information on pre-order, pricing and full specifications.