BlackBerry Storm 2 Pricing & Arrival Dates Revealed [Verizon Wireless to Sell the BlackBerry Storm 2 for $179.99 with a 2-YR Contract on October 28]

Vodafone has announced the BlackBerry Storm 2 last week but surprisingly enough, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone’s long time partner, has not done the same. The smartphone has been spotted on Verizon’s website already but Big Red did not launch it yet. In fact it plans apparently to launch it on October 28.

According to an anonymous Engadget tipster, Verizon has scheduled the release of BlackBerry Storm for next Wednesday. Last time I checked, and I do that pretty often, that’s the date when another hot phone is officially coming to Verizon. The invites for the press event in which Verizon’s first Android phone, the Motorola Droid, will finally see the light of day have been sent out and they have the same date printed on it, October 28.

It looks like Verizon Wireless is obviously taking sides. Is the Droid better than the Storm? Does Verizon like Motorola over RIM? Or is it simply an innocent coincidence? There’s definitely something fishy in the state of Denmark about this whole situation.

The other simple explanation could be that the picture above has been manufactured and Verizon has a different scheduled date for the BlackBerry Storm 2 release. Unfortunately it looks pretty genuine so far so let’s take a look at those pricing details. Verizon customers can choose to get the Storm 2 bundled with either a 1- or 2-year contracts. The smartphone will also be available at full retail so it’s up to you to choose.

When bundled with a 2-year contract the Storm 2 will be available for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. When purchased with a 1-year contract the phone will be yours for $249.99 after a similar $100 mail-in rebate. The full price of the device is $539.99 which is not such a bad price considering what the Storm 2 has to offer.

What do you think about the whole BlackBerry Storm 2 vs Motorola Droid situation? Which phone are you going to buy this year? In all fairness the Droid looks like it has a little edge over the new Storm. It’s a totally new handset which promises to be the hottest Android phone to have been released so far.