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As expected, Verizon today started selling the BlackBerry Storm, RIM's first, smartphone with a touch screen. The Storm, which can be had for $199.99 with a two-year contact and after a $50 mail-in rebate, is the mob-e-mail leaders most direct shot at the iPhone yet.

Unlike the iPhone, the Storm features a touch screen that depresses slightly when pressed, giving users the feel of a soft click when the display, which measures 3.25 inches and runs at a 360 x 480-pixel resolution, is released. This is supposed to make using the smartphone's on-screen keyboard for typing far easier to use than past virtual-keyboard implementations, including the iPhones.

This is key for the enterprise smartphone leader, as the Storm, like all previous BlackBerry models, emphasizes e-mail and corporate network access. The bundled DataViz Documents To Go mobile office suit allows users to read, edit and create Microsoft Office documents on the Storm.

Like the iPhone, the Storm sports a built-in accelerometer to allow, among other things, the device to automatically switch between landscape and portrait modes depending on how it's held and rotated. The display also accepts multi-touch and finger gesture-based input like the iPhone.

The Storm supports Verizon's high-speed EV-DO 3G data network and, for those who travel, 2100MHz-band HSDPA for data and quad-band GSM when abroad.

In addition to 1GB of memory, the Storm ships with a 8GB microSDHC card. Like other smartphones with memory-card slots, there really isn’t a limit to how much data you can use with the Storm.

There's also Bluetooth with Stereo headset support (the Storm is also a music and video player), a 3.2 megapixel camera with a flash, and integrated GPS. Interestingly, there's no Wi-Fi. That may not be missed, as long as you’re often in range of Verizon’s extensive EV-DO network.

The 1400mAH battery is supposed to get around six hours talk and 15 days of standby time on a single charge.

We've just gotten the BlackBerry Storm in house. Stay tuned for our review and an articles offering BlackBerrry Storm usage tips and tricks.

What to Buy?
For those who are having trouble deciding between the BlackBerry Storm, iPhone or the T-Mobile G1, BillShrink has launched a comparison site to help make their decision easier. The idea is allow consumers to view and calculate the real cost of owning each device, taking into account - among other thing - a smartphones sticker price versus monthly service and other features. The last includes a spec by spec comparison.

There's also a site that throws Sprint's Samsung Instinct into the equation.