Although the Verizon touchscreen phone news may be a bit monopolized by a certain RIM product you may have heard of… another touchscreen has recently debuted on this super popular US carrier. But rather than add to the hype of that other questionably ready for market cell, we’ll highlight some Specs on the Samsung Omnia.

•  5-megapixel camera / camcorder with autofocus
• 8 or 16GB of Flash with microSD expansion
• full HTML browser
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• 7.2Mbps HSDPA 2100
• quadband EDGE, nice but note: Note 3G - with the way things are turning, this could leave you less connected than Steve Jobs could get you.
• 3.2-inch capacitive WQVGA touchscreen
• WiFi 
• GPS

So what do you think? Does it stack up against the Storm, or Verizon’s other touchscreens? For a more extensive, wonderfully laid-out review on the Samsung Omnia from Engadget, follow the link here.

Two big news stories for RIM today - a possible Motorola take-over, and a surprising jump on successors to the Storm.

According to a Reuters article written yesterday afternoon, the recent drop in price of RIM’s (and everyone else’s) stock makes them vulnerable to a much-discussed potential takeover from Motorola. The company is worth only slightly more than a third of what it was a year ago - stocks going for $60 per share as opposed to nearly $150 a share. While the Blackberry manufacturer’s value has dropped in today’s market, this would be a great move for Motorola as it has been struggling in the shift from simple cell phones to smartphones.  (Thanks, Engadget!)

On the flip-side of things, rumors are also abounding that Blackberry is working on new and improved versions of the Storm - the touch-screen Blackberry that hasn’t even debuted on the Verizon Wireless network. The drive? To compete with other superphones, such as the HTC Touch Pro. Rumored characteristics of the BB smartphone? 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, 1GB of RAM,and a “near-HD quality” screen to improve upon all of those other Blackberrys that are coming out first. Looks like the financial crisis isn’t scaring everyone. Right on RIM!

Although the weather outside is looking mild, Blackberry, Verizon, and Engadget have a huge Storm rolling in. Here’s a glimpse at the newest Blackberry - just in time to enjoy the hype before it actually gets to market here in the U.S.
Story #1 - Blackberry Apps!

Crackberry brings us this week some great news if you’re at all interested in the functionality of the Blackberry Storm. The Blackberry App Center is aimed to launch on the BlackBerry Storm’s version 4.7 operating system. This App system will allow the user to find, browse and install/upgrade 3rd party BlackBerry apps hosted by carriers. Here are some of the Blackberry App Center’s shining features:

So how is this different from Apple’s App Store? RIM’s App Center seems to be meant more as a supplement than as a one-stop-shop option, like Apple’s App Store. Also, don’t expect to see thousands of Apps, like with Apple. Since this is a supplementary option, growth will most likely be slower.

Story #2 - More Screen Shots!

Okay, okay… not quite as exciting as story #1, but exciting nonetheless. Check the link for more pics of this little gadget, and we hope you’ll be as please as we were.