Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) released its own touch-screen wireless handset just over a few months ago and so far, it's been selling well. The BlackBerry Storm, though, seems to have been plagued by software issues, user interface problems and reeks of a unit that was rushed to market before it was finished. In many ways, this happens every day from all kinds of companies. With RIM - a company known for outstanding and solid products, this just doesn't fit.

The company has indicated that about 500,000 Storms were sold in the first month after release, which was no doubt a boon to the Storm's exclusive carrier, Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ). Does this really impact Apple's iPhone, which continues to see large sales as well?

A recent ChangeWave smartphone survey of 3,800 cell phone owners measured customer reaction to Research In Motion's (NASDAQ: RIMM) newest touch-screen phone, the BlackBerry Storm.

The survey was conducted just weeks after the Storm went on sale.

We also compared the Storm's favorability rating to those of the original Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, taken from a 2007 ChangeWave survey conducted a few weeks after the iPhone's release.

The original iPhone's "very satisfied" rating (77%) was more than double that of the Storm (33%).

Moreover, the original iPhone's unsatisfied rating (5%) was three times lower than that of the Storm (14%).

The long-only money managers and analysts getting their 15 seconds of fame on CNBC are pounding the table shouting "Tech is on sale! Tech is on sale."

Is it?

Are the great electronics brands -- like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) -- truly on sale?

Best Buy

Best Buy beat earnings estimates and announced plans to offer buyouts to virtually all of its nearly 4,000 headquarters employees. Say what!?!

Translation: Management is very good and business is going to be very bad.

What should investors do?

The recession is going to get much worse, and will be as bad or worse in Q4 of next year. ChangeWave Research consumer spending survey data shows 2009 -- at least the earlier part of it -- is going to be far worse than Wall Street expects. And logic says that this will hit Best Buy stock.

Furthermore, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Costco (NASDAQ: COST) and other discounters are hurting Best Buy's business as the more "advanced" products become mainstream, and require little, if any, sales support.

Also, Wal-Mart may get the iPhone. Will Mac laptops soon follow?

Research in Motion Ltd.'s (NASDAQ: RIMM) new BlackBerry Storm caused quite a stir when Verizon Wireless released it for sale just last month. It was heralded as one of the first "real" serious competitors to the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 3G. Along with a complete, tactile touchscreen, the new Storm also -- of course -- featured RIM's well-known email integration. After all, portable, wireless email is what completely built RIM and the BlackBerry product.

But is the Storm not all that? There are reports that Verizon Wireless is seeing a return rate that should cause RIM executives to take serious pause. The touchscreen on the Storm, which features a physical button-like interface without buttons, is a possible culprit. Any new advance in user interface has the potential to backfire, which is possibly part of what's happening here. Silicon Alley Insider references a slew of Twitter comments that are pretty much disparaging the Storm as a piece of junk. While that's far from scientific, it's still the true.

What is the deal? Manufacturers can't please everyone, and there are always complaints no matter how stellar the product. There are sources who indicate that 40% to 50% of Storms are being returned. If even remotely true, that's a huge return percentage on the flagship of a company that basically created the market for mobile email. The Storm has had a decent amount of bad reviews, so it will be interesting to see if RIM's most exciting new product in years will fall flat or see only a middling response from customers.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) launched the newest BlackBerry "do everything" wireless phone this week to much fanfare. While some pundits has argued whether this was the reel first "iPhone killer" to come to market, most of the universe eagerly waited to test an actual unit and see if what the specifications looked like matched reality. Add to that the fanatical user base the BlackBerry has -- just as nutty as iPhone worshippers -- and it was a classic showdown. Would the new BlackBerry Storm hold its own against Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) offering?

Being released today on the second-largest wireless network in the U.S. -- Verizon Wireless -- the newest BlackBerry offering is the first without a real, tactile keyboard. However, the touchscreen does have actual, tactile feedback. In other words, it can be "pressed" instead of just hovered over or lightly tapped. After having scanned an in-depth review over at Engadget, there may be some major adjustment to this all-new way of inputting information into a phone, just like when Apple released the original iPhone and touchscreens were the new "it."

The gamble RIM takes here is if the real "tough" screen will get customers who require some kind of tactile feedback when using phones to become BlackBerry customers over the iPhone. From a phone standpoint, this is a good comparison. But when looking at the complete multimedia package of the iPhone from top to bottom, I'm unsure the Storm is even in the same league.

As a phone and email device, you bet -- the Storm is every bit as good as the iPhone on paper (feel free to disagree). Since Verizon told Apple to take a hike when the iPhone was originally offered to it, it's now 18 months later and the company finally has an answer. However, the question and answer may have already been asked and answered by AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T), who Apple chose to partner with when Verizon Wireless declined.

Consumers may be strapped for cash this year with Christmas approaching, but if there's one category which analysts expect to do well despite the downturn, it's smart phones. Analysts have called for Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) to reduce its price on the 8GB iPhone to $99 (with a two-year AT&T contract), though reports that the company might scale back production point to somewhat depressed demand.

Will Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) finally have its iPhone contender; and just in time for the pre-holiday frenzy? Boy Genius Report has received a leaked presentation from Verizon management that indicates the Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) Blackberry Storm will be released in a "pre-launch special event" on November 20, the Thursday before Thanksgiving. The document indicates the Storm, Verizon's first chance at an iPhone-like device, would be available for testing and pre-ordering at 123 company stores, which would open an hour early for the extravaganza. Actual launch throughout the U.S. would occur on the 24th and 25th, Monday and Tuesday.

The Storm has no physical keyboard, instead using the touch-screen technology similar to the iPhone, a camera, and visual voicemail. Pricing will be $199.99 with a two-year agreement. With Verizon planning to stock plenty of these devices, the iPhone-style frenzy may not exist, but it should be popular for consumers who have been captive to Verizon for one reason or another -- and those whose loyalty lies with the Blackberry. Will this be the holiday season of the touchscreen smart phone? RIMM and Verizon can only put their nightcaps on and dream.

With the stock prices of thousands of public companies taking a very large nosedive in recent weeks, it stands to reason that some companies with little debt and who're also flush with cash may be seeking to turn on their acquisition engines and snap something up. With Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) down almost 90 points from its 52-week high set just this summer, could the email addict support company be ripe for a buyout? Who would want to gain RIM's immense cellphone/email subscriber base that seems to keep outperforming larger competitors? Think Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).

The company just said that it is experiencing higher costs due to the launch of newer smartphones (like the Storm), and if you take that with the pounding the overall market has taken, RIMM could be left as a willing acquisition to the company that failed to snatch up Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) earlier this year. Microsoft's Windows Mobile is a venerable mobile operating system but does not have the core business email user base of the cachet of the Blackberry. At the $60 per share level, RIM would be a $34 billion takeover, which is still quite large for Microsoft to swallow. Is RIM worth it? You decide.

Microsoft would seem to have a more logical fit with an RIM acquisition (in its entirely) than by gobbling up Yahoo and having so much overlap in the process. If the future really is mobile (for computing, communications, etc.), Microsoft's potential acquisition of RIM would be years ahead of its time and possibly even a bargain if one were to look at the broadband and wireless landscape circa 2015. It's got the cash, and it's got the moxie. Whether it has the will to try another huge acquisition in 2008 is anyone's guess

Research in Motion Limited (USA) (NASDAQ: RIMM) announced today the launch of a new touch screen BlackBerry, which will go under the name of the Storm 3G.

The move comes as the company tries to make another big step in gaining market share in the consumer segment. For most of the BlackBerry's existence, the phone has been regarded as mainly a device for professionals, but RIMM has been trying to break that reputation, and is banking on the fact that its newest touch screen will help move the company in that direction.

All of the major mobile phone makers have been scrambling to keep up with the mania that Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) created last year when it released its iPhone, and then again this year when that mania spiked once more with the release of the upgraded iPhone 3G.