Sometimes it almost seems like Apple must have a target painted on its back. Since the release of the iPhone G3 in particular, just about every company out there has made a bid on trying to lure buyers in their direction. The latest effort comes from a company already known for producing powerful converged devices (if up until now, focused on the business side of things). RIM (Research in Motion) has announced its latest touch-screen handset, the Blackberry Storm to go head to head with the iPhone.

The BlackBerry Storm will offer the world's first 'clickable' touch screen. Users feel the screen being pressed and released with a gentle click, similar to the feeling of a mouse click. It will also add support for multi-touches, taps, slides and other touch-screen gestures, so customers can easily highlight, scroll, pan and zoom for smooth navigation.
Its SureType keyboard layout is available in portrait mode and a full QWERTY keyboard layout is available in landscape mode.

Like the iPhone, the Storm will make use of high-speed 3G Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A (Rev. A) technology for fast Internet browsing and multimedia applications. Users can navigate websites with the touch screen interface, double tapping to zoom in and sliding fingers to scroll and pan.

The browser supports file downloading, streaming audio and video (RTSP), and with its built-in RSS support, new content from supported websites can be automatically pushed to users.

The Blackberry Storm will be available later this year through Verizon Wireless in the United States and Vodafone in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand.

For full specs, click here.