And it's out. The BlackBerry Storm2 just made its first official carrier appearance with Vodafone. The promising followup to the much maligned BlackBerry Storm will be free on pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up. Specs include a 3.25-inch 360 x 480 pixel capacitive SurePress (new and improved) touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA data, 256MB of flash memory (double that of the original Storm), 2GB of onboard memory with microSDHC expansion, 3.5-mm standard headset jack, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and 1400mAh battery giving about 6 hours of 3G talk. BlackBerry OS 5 too, of course, when it lands on October 15th in the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain -- France, Italy, and South Africa in time for Christmas.

Update: Now on official RIM page too with a detailed comparison against the original Storm.
[Thanks, James]

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Considering that some countries are mulling the idea of making texting a recognized subject and allowing students to use text-speak on exams, we suppose it's not too outrageous to hear of handsets being used as educational tools and not seen as a hindrance. Nokia has teamed up with Mindset Network in order to spearhead the M4Girls pilot project, which utilizes Nokia 6300 handsets loaded with educational material to "help improve the mathematics performance of Grade 10 girl learners." Reportedly, the initiative will be piloted in two South African schools, and students lucky enough to take advantage will have access to educational games and other material created to meet the needs of the national curriculum. No word on whether the program will filter out to other locations if it proves successful, but here's to hoping that eventually gets answered with a resounding "yes."

[Via textually]

Hot on the heels of the 1606 and 3606 comes a foursome for emerging markets announced today not at CTIA, but at the Growing Together 2008 conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Getting us started is the €90 ($142) 5000 (ships in Q2), which checks in with a QVGA display, FM tuner, MP3 ringtone support, Bluetooth, GPRS connectivity and a 1.3-megapixel camera -- the firm's first at the aforesaid price point. Next up is the Q3-bound 2680 slide (pictured), which boasts a camera, FM radio and a manageable €75 ($119) price tag. Moving on, there's the 7070 Prism, which rocks those same geometric patterns we've grown to love (or hate) on the 7500, a voice recorder and a €50 ($79) sticker. Lastly, the 1680 classic (ships in Q2) arrives as the company's most "affordable cameraphone to date" at just €50 ($79). Go on, check out the whole gang in the gallery below!

Rest assured, we've seen some brainless criminals in our day, but this one ranks pretty high on the list. Reportedly, a (potentially inebriated) individual waltzed into a police station and frantically announced that his phone had been stolen at gunpoint. When the detective called the number of the phone reportedly stolen, however, a ring was heard from the "victim's" pocket. After pondering what the criminal hoped to gain from the situation, we here at Engadget HQ came up empty, and apparently, the police involved in the situation were equally stumped -- so stumped, in fact, that they issued a statement entitled "Dumbest criminal?" with details of the event in a local newspaper. We'd say that sums it up fairly accurately.

[Image courtesy of FOTW, thanks LordFarkward]