The new BlackBerry will have a "clickable" touch screen that will respond like a regular keyboard, and recognize both single and multi-touch gestures to make it easy to move around its applications.

As an owner of the iPhone 3G, I have seen many eyes widen when people play around with my phone. My sister has a BlackBerry, and despite loving her BlackBerry definitely expressed interest in switching over the iPhone, only to be dissuaded by the fact she would have to leave her Verizon network. This is the exact type of user that RIMM is hoping to keep by introducing this new touch phone, as well as attracting new users by offering a similar device to the iPhone, but allowing users to avoid the AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) network.

How well and easy the Storm will be to use remains to be seen. We will not know exactly how well the phone will be able to compete against the iPhone until the devices start to become available, but there are already a few features that we know the phone will posses that the iPhone 3G lacks. These include (but are probably not limited to) cut-and-paste, Microsoft Office document editing, stereo Bluetooth support and a removable battery.

The Storm is going to be running on Verizon Communication Inc's (NYSE: VZ) network, and overseas users will be running on Vodaphone's network. The company plans to start selling the devices next month in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand. There are still no price details being made available, and the American release date is still unknown.

The stock, which has been beaten up pretty badly over the past month is trading up in the green today, gaining 8.7% on the day, to $59.86, up $4.81 in today's action.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.