Up close and personal: The BlackBerry Storm

Ah, nothing beats the smell of a new gadget in a shiny box in the morning.

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Wow, them there's a lot of UPC codes.

Read: Hands on with the Blackberry Storm

The inner box

Read: Hands on with the Blackberry Storm

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed when I opened the box -- it was kind of a mess, and the Storm was nowhere to be found. Not sure if this is how the retail version will actually arrive, or if the PR folks shifted stuff around a bit when they were getting devices ready for the media.

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Ahhhh, there it is. And man, there's enough plastic around it to make it look like it's one of Dexter's victims.

Read: Hands on with the Blackberry Storm

In addition to standard fare like a USB sync/charge cable, an AC power adapter, and wired headphones, the Storm comes with an array of international power adapters -- nice touch.

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The Storm is definitely not the most svelte smartphone on the market.

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It's still kind of bizarre to see a keyless BlackBerry, isn't it?

The back of the phone sports a 3.2 megapixel camera -- with flash, as well as a remarkably loud speaker.

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The Storm home screen, which by default has eight icons...

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Although it's remarkably easy to change basic features, including number of icons, wallpaper, and your default download directory.

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A close-up of the standard SureType keyboard, which you'll use if you hold the Storm vertically (in portrait mode).

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But if you prefer a full keyboard, simply rotate the device 90 degrees, and you'll find a full QWERTY keyboard.

Read: Hands on with the Blackberry Storm

In additional to the standard Blackberry line-up of icons, the Storm has prominent icons for visual voicemail, VZ Navigator (GPS software) and an IM folder that includes Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, and Blackberry Messenger.

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The pictures folder. Swiping your finger across the screen moves you back and forth through your photos.

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The Storm web browser. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised by Verizon's high-speed network, though I still wish the Storm had a WiFi antenna. (And yes, that CBS home page is the second shameless plug I've made for our corporate parent in this gallery -- in case you missed the Dexter mention earlier).

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The VZ Navigator home screen.

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The Storm's video player is excellent, although it pales a bit in comparison to the BlackBerry Bold.

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Depressing the Blackberry key bring up a scrolling shortcuts menu. You can also easily access all of your icons at once by depressing on the home screen. Lightly touching an icon shows you the name of the application; clicking in opens the application or folder.

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