Launched in November last year, Research In Motion’s first touch-screen mobile handset Storm aimed to counter the growing popularity of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iconic iPhone. The launch of Storm2 in September/October would cut the older version’s lifetime to less than a year, indicating cut-throat competition in the smart-phone industry.

This market is getting increasingly crowded with new players and should witness intense competition going forward. In addition to Research In Motion, Apple and Palm Inc. (PALM), Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Samsung have launched a series of novel products. Motorola (MOT), Google Inc. (GOOG), HTC and LG Electronics are other new entrants in the smartphone market.

BlackBerry Storm2 is expected to incorporate Wi-Fi technology, which was considered a downside of the original Storm. Storm2 would replace the existing “SurePress" tool with a new touch-screen technology called “TruePress", which will make typing on the device much easier. The new device is also likely to have a 5-megapixel camera. Research In Motion recently acquired Torch Mobile, a web-based software and application developer to strengthen the BlackBerry’s web-browsing facilities.

The smartphone mobile market is growing continuously. The next-generation technology of converged mobile computing enables a smartphone to function like a fully operational computing device. Research In Motion has been able to successfully differentiate its BlackBerry products from other products in the communications market. Demand has been overwhelming for its BlackBerry Bold, Storm, Pearl Flip 8230 and BlackBerry 8830 World editions. Newly launched BlackBerry Tour received encouraging market traction. We expect Storm2 to further boost the company’s top line growing forward.

RIMM has been able to successfully differentiate its BlackBerry products from other offerings in the communications market. BlackBerry smart-phones are admired globally for their best e-mail functionality. However, its web browsing capability is not as powerful as iPhone of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Pre of Palm Inc. (PALM) and Google Android. All of these browsers are based on the WebKit ecosystem. In order to remain competitive, RIMM has decided to strengthen its browser that will be able to support Flash and Silverlight Technologies.

The smart-phone mobile market is growing continuously. As a result, this market is getting increasingly crowded with new players and is expected to witness intense competition going forward. In addition to RIMM, Apple, and Palm, Nokia Corp. (NOK), Sony-Ericsson, a joint-venture between Sony Corp. (SNE) and L.M. Ericsson (ERIC) and Samsung have launched a series of innovative products. Motorola (MOT), Google, HTC, and LG Electronics are other new entrants in this market.

The next-generation technology of converged mobile computing enables a smart-phone to function like a fully operational computing device with the help of a strong web browser. Consumers are increasingly using their mobile handset to browse the Internet. This creates a growing market for third party software. Acquisition of Torch Mobile will now give RIMM a solid foothold in the WebKit development community.