BlackBerry Storm on Telus gets price, no date

Telus today priced out its version of the BlackBerry Storm. Contradicting some early rumors, the Canadian carrier says it will offer the Storm at promo pricing for $250 CAD ($200 US) on a three-year plan, or closer to (but still above) the cost of the iPhone 3G on Rogers. The phone will also be available on shorter terms and should sell for $600 when contract-free. More details should be available shortly, the company says.

Telus' version is relatively close to the reference BlackBerry and carries both EVDO Rev. A and Europe-only HSPA for its 3G services, GPS and 1GB of internal memory; in its Telus-specific trim, the phone will come with a microSDHC card preloaded with 15 songs and 10 music videos from music label Arts & Crafts.

However, the company has yet to provide a release date and so far only hints at a release this month through the end of the promo pricing, which finishes on Christmas Day. No reason has been given for the delay over the American version that shipped for Verizon on November 21st, though the Storm is known to be suffering from multiple bugs with interface lag and short battery life that have hampered the smartphone since its US launch. Research in Motion is known to be readying a fix that is increasingly likely to be available with or shortly after the Canadian debut.