New and improved BlackBerry Storm a-comin' this fall?

The original Storm landed with a thud thanks to its sluggish performance, lack of Wi-Fi, and tricky touchscreen. Now a pair of reports have it that RIM is set to whip up a new Storm, complete with Wi-Fi and a "brand-new" touchscreen.

First up, we've got SlashGear, which has an unnamed source "very close to the issue" claiming that the "BlackBerry Storm 2" is set to arrive this September on Verizon Wireless, and that the revamped handset "addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the first smartphone and of Verizon devices in general" (ouch)—namely, that "it will support Wi-Fi."

Next comes Boy Genius Report, which claims that SlashGear's story is "100% confirmed" and adds a rumor of its own ("confirmed to us by two independent sources"): that the new Storm will have "new screen tech" that "improves the screen enormously and makes typing really pleasurable."

Now, if you recall, the original Storm's touch display (the first of its kind for a BlackBerry) is actually clickable—that is, you touch it lightly to move the cursor, then press harder on the spring-loaded display to "click" a button or perform an action.

The idea, of course, was to add some feedback to the Storm's virtual QWERTY keypad (as well as to "mimic" the "flick to select, click to take action" effect of "the old BlackBerry jog dial," as I wrote in my review), but users complained that the clickable display felt a bit "sticky" in actual use.

OK, so what's RIM's new touchscreen solution? No word on that, unfortunately, although Boy Genius Report claims that the new technology will be called "TruePress," for what it's worth.

In any case, the claims of a September release date for a Storm 2 sound about right; the first Storm was announced last October and released in late November, and handsets typically have a one-year life cycle. Also, RIM and Verizon Wireless are probably eager to step up the pace, given the original Storm's cool reception. (No official word from Verizon or RIM, of course.)

So, BlackBerry fans—ready for a new Storm? What features would you be looking for? And should the Storm 2 (assuming it exists) revamp the touchscreen, or are you fine with the current ClickThrough display?

Related:
Blackberry Storm 2 due in September, has WiFi [SlashGear]
BlackBerry Storm 2 with Wi-Fi and a new screen [Boy Genius Report]