Verizon Wireless Launches RIM BlackBerry Storm

Verizon Wireless (VZ) launched the Blackberry Storm with the first touch interface from Research in Motion (RIMM). In the two years since the iPhone was first announced, virtually every major mobile manufacturer has been racing to touch screen party. Not RIM, the BlackBerry manufacturer has been biding its time, and is only now releasing its first touchscreen.

For the company that created the “crackberry” and popularized the qwerty keyboard creating a touch screen in a sense goes against their DNA. In a time where the Apple (AAPL) iPhone outsold the entire BlackBerry mobile line of devices in the third quarter, I guess RIM is a little scared about the traction Apple seems to be getting.