Walt Mossberg Reviews The BlackBerry Storm 2Walt Mossberg Reviews The BlackBerry Storm 2

Yesterday, the New York Times may have broken news of the BlackBerry Storm 2's existence, but the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg actually got to review it. He published his review today. Find out what he has to say about this sequel to RIM's first touch phone.Even though Research In Motion and Verizon Wireless still have yet to actually announce this phone, Mr. Mossberg's review makes it a tangible reality. He's spent some time with it. His review may not be the feature-packed articles he's put together for devices such as the iPhone, but his opinions say enough. Here's the breakdown.

Bugginess and screen feel: "The screen now stays still when tapped, providing tactile feedback electronically instead of mechanically. This allows for faster, smoother typing." Mossberg notes that the device now has a vertical (but cramped) QWERTY keyboard. He obviously never used an updated version of the original Storm, as that feature was added after its initial release.

Connectivity: "The new model also has Wi-Fi." Thank goodness.

On the way it looks: "While the dimensions haven't changed, the Storm2 looks sleeker and has a few user interface refinements, like an on-screen Send button."

Mossberg also gives the Storm2 kudos for battery life.

Faults? Yeah, they're still there. Mossberg says the typing experience still won't replace a physical keyboard. The Storm2 increases internal memory from 1GB to 2GB, but he says the browser still doesn't match the iPhone, Android or Palm Pre.

My favorite line from his review: "The traditional BlackBerry interface cries out for a major overhaul in a touch device like this, especially when you add a lot of apps. RIM's menu and folder metaphor seems tired on this device." Walt, it felt tired years ago, long before the original Storm was a twinkle in Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis' collective eyes.

No hard launch date or price has been set, but Mossberg believes it will street in November for about $200.