UK wireless voice and data service provider Vodafone on Friday announced the pricing and availability for the BlackBerry Storm 9500 smartphone, according to news today. The Storm is available for pre-order on the provider's site now, and will be delivered on November 11th. Buyers get several purchase options, including paying £300 (about $480) for the handset when also signing up for a 12-month contract that costs £40 ($64) per month. With the same monthly plan that includes 600 minutes of talk time and unlimited text messages, although with a longer 18-month contract, the device is free.

To drop the monthly fees to £35 ($56) while not having to pay for the handset itself, buyers will need to commit to a two-year term. Vodafone will also offer Best of Talk and Best for Text plans, that, when combined, will include virtually unlimited data and the provider's Find&Go satellite navigation service for free for the first six months of users' contract.

The Storm will be an iPhone competitor, featuring a 3.25-inch, 480x360 touchscreen display with haptic feedback. It will support 3G data networks, and has a 3.2-megapixel video camera. It will also bring an embedded GPS sensor and an accelerometer that will automatically adjust the screen's orientation, but comes without Wi-Fi.