As announced previously, the BlackBerry 9500 is now available on Vodafone for free on an 18-month contract. Just like the newly-launched BlackBerry 8900 Curve, the Storm lacks one feature (Wi-Fi) just to make sure that the Bold reamains king of the hill. It’s too bad those waiting on the Verizon release next Friday will have to shell out $199.99, but hey, different markets. The last time I played with a Storm, it felt good, but the OS still needed considerable polishing, so here’s hoping the production model is up to snuff. Those of us up north will have to wait until mid-December before getting the Telus BlackBerry Storm. As for Bell, we haven’t heard a peep from them.
Go ahead and check out Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm site to sign up, and be sure to check our BlackBerry Storm Video Roundup for the full tour of RIM’s first touchscreen smartphone.