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A question that’s been asked with increasing volume this week: Where is Verizon’s Storm 2 announcement? Vodafone made the announcement last week, and the Storm 2 should hit their shelves on Monday. We expected Verizon to closely follow, but over a week has passed and we’ve heard nothing. No one wants a delay — that was RIM’s signature in 2008 — but it appears that’s what might happen. Ed Hardy of Brighthand.com notes unconfirmed reports that the Storm hasn’t passed Verizon’s internal tests, meaning they’re still working on it. An announcement won’t come until the company is satisfied.

This is understandable. The original Storm had plenty of problems upon launch. The software wasn’t as smooth as possible, and a real fix didn’t come until around April. Verizon wants to get it right this time, and if that means delaying the device, so be it. In any case, it shouldn’t be too long. Verizon and RIM want this out by mid-November I’m sure, though I wonder if that’s a good thing. It could mean yet another rushed release.

Storm 2 reviews

To tide you over until announcement and release, there are a ton of Storm 2 reviews popping up. We shared a few last week, including Kevin’s behemoth. This week we look at Jamie Lendino of PC Magazine, who gave it four out of five stars. Sean Ludwig focuses on the ways the Storm 2 is better than its predecessor. Former BlackBerry Cool editor Simon Sage reviews the Storm 2 at IntoMobile. He also rates it 4/5 stars, noting that there are no glaring flaws. Like most people say, if you like touch screen, can handle SurePress, and like BlackBerry, this device will work for you. Plus, Simon posted video.

RIM will offer many new features with OS 5.0, which should come pre-loaded on the Storm. They think that it could be of use to developers, who can use many new features, including BlackBerry Widgets, to create new applications on the platform. Eric Zeman of InformationWeek notes that the OS is actually the Storm 2’s weakness. “Using BlackBerry OS on a touch phone just doesn’t compare to the experience offered by HTC’s Sense or TouchFlo UIs, Samsung’s TouchWiz, or even plain old Android. RIM needs to step up the OS game here.” That appears to be a common sentiment in the mobile space.

And hey, if you’re really into the Storm 2, you can check out the user guide.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 announced

The Storm 2 commanded the most attention this past week, but it wasn’t the biggest topic for RIM. That was the announcement of the BlackBerry Bold 9700, which went according to schedule. We saw late last week that Bell will get it in Canada, and Rogers is expected to pick it up as well. On the U.S. side it’s AT&T and T-Mobile. AT&T has said the device will launch in November for $199.99 on contract, so it’s pretty standard fare.

As a quick refresher, the Bold 9700 features a narrower body than the original, making it more Curve-like. It has the same display as the Tour, 480 x 360 2.44-inch HVGA, but instead of the troublesome trackball it features an optical trackpad, which will come standard on all future QWERTY BlackBerry devices (until they get the new, new thing). The on-board memory won’t match the Bold’s 1GB, though the 256MB with expandable memory works just fine. The camera gets an upgrade to 3.2 megapixels.

Tony Bradley of PC World doesn’t think the Bold 9700 constitutes enough of an upgrade to induce excitement. It will be a boon to T-Mobile BlackBerry users, as it is the first 3G BlackBerry on that network. It will also be nice for AT&T users, because it’s a small step above the Bold. Otherwise, Tony says, the handset doesn’t add much. I’m inclined to disagree. It adds plenty, and plenty more to T-Mobile than just a 3G BlackBerry. But that’s because of a bigger project.

Project Dark will feature BlackBerry 9700

Along with AT&T, T-Mobile will launch the BlackBerry Bold 9700 for $199.99 on a two-year contract. But what if you don’t want a contract? Or what if the contract is too expensive? In the former case you’d have to pay full retail price for the handset, which in the case the Bold is either $500 or $600. If the contract is too expensive, well, then you’re SOL. That was the case until recently, when we heard about T-Mobile’s Project Dark.

This is a three-part project, which you can read about here (it features some early information, which has since been updated). The idea is to bring in top of the line handsets, including new BlackBerry devices, Android handsets, and possibly eventually the iPhone. T-Mobile plans to serve these customers with even faster 3G networks with 21Mbps coverage. And, just to make the deal as sweet as possible, they’re revamping their service plans.

Those plans look pretty attractive, according to photos of promo material. It puts the all-in package — unlimited minutes, messaging, and data — at $80, so $20 below Sprint’s comparable plan. Project Dark is more about the data aspect of the phone, so they have a number of limited minutes plans that also offer unlimited messaging and data. Specifically, they’ll offer a 500-minute package for $60 and a 1,000 minute version for $70. With unlimited nights and weekends plus mobile to mobile, the 500-minute plan seems like a steal. Then again, my Verizon 450 minutes + data + 500 messages (and unlimited Verizon to Verizon) is just $70.

Best of all, if you don’t want a contract, you can finance the phone. Yeah, it’s a pain to spread a $600 phone over 24 monthly payments, but it’s the best option for some people. It should definitely lower the barrier to smartphone ownership, though, which I’m sure is one of T-Mobile’s aims.

Still, this is something to get excited over. If you’re thinking about getting the 9700, you might want to consider picking up the T-Mobile version. You can not only get some fast network speeds (eventually), but you’ll also get a good deal on a plan.

Tip of the week: Schedule emails with MessageSchedule. If for some reason, devious or not, you need to schedule an email or SMS to send at a future time, this app can do that. I wish that RIM would implement this as a native feature, though.

BlackBerry watch now beyond a rumor

Many commenters disagreed, but I still think the BlackBerry watch is a good idea. The idea passed into Internet rumor over the summer, and now it looks like the watch is for real. It’s not made by RIM, but will be designed for use with your BlackBerry. That’s a picture of it above. The idea is to give you a sneak peak at the information on your BlackBerry while the device remains in its holster or in your pocket.

The downside: I imagine a lot of people will use this to check their email while driving. That’s just going to be another distraction. The upside is that you can check what’s going on discreetly — though the watch itself doesn’t appear that discreet. It has a reportedly “big, bright and beautiful” screen, which isn’t something you’d expect or even want in a watch. I wonder if this can be accomplished while keeping the watch size to a minimum.

New version of Desktop Manager for Mac means end of PocketMac support

RIM’s BlackBerry Desktop Manager upgrade to version 1.0.1 didn’t seem like a huge deal at the time, and still doesn’t. It did, however, have on ancillary effect: it meant the end of PocketMac support. The app served its purpose, but with Desktop Manager for Mac now out, there seems little reason to continue using PocketMac.

Software updates

As always, we’re all over the software updates from the week.

• Facebook 1.7 for BlackBerry is now available at http://www.blackberry.com/facebook.
• Google Maps has upgraded to version 3.2, including the new layers feature. Get it at http://m.google.com/maps.
• BlackBerry Web updates are now compatible with Firefox. That’s simply excellent news for those of us who have long forgotten Internet Explorer.
• Finally, if you’re a Pearl Jam fan, you can download an app that allows you to download three tracks from each of the band’s 11 remaining tour dates. Free music is always good.

Miscellaneous stories

Just a couple of stories to round out the week;

• Mother and author Kathy Buckworth extols the virtues of BlackBerry for mothers. It can help organize a family schedule like none other.
• RIM is looking for a WebKit developer. So that fancy new browser is definitely coming.
• One little-known use of the BlackBerry: shaking the cops. Criminals choose the BlackBerry to prevent police eavesdropping. It makes sense, because the BlackBerry has an excellent security system.

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