Research In Motion on Wednesday announced that its BlackBerry Storm smartphone will debut later in the fall exclusively at VerizonWireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe and elsewhere.

The Storm, which sports a screen that depresses slightly to give the feeling of pressing real keys, is aimed squarely at the consumer market, but it may be the first credible touch-screen phone for mobile professionals, according to analyst Kevin Burden.

“RIM had an idea of how to preserve the BlackBerry experience on a touch screen device,” said Mr. Burden, an analyst with ABI Research. “A compelling on-screen QWERTY keyboard and back-end email will appeal to the mobile professional and IT administrators.”

The Storm will be the latest contender in the high end of the consumer market, joining recent entrants Apple’s iPhone 3G, HTC’s Android G1, and Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic.

BlackBerry has been trying to crack the consumer high end for a few years with the 7100 and lately the BlackBerry Pearl, but the iPhone raised the stakes for RIM and the other contenders. And the Storm is RIM’s response.

“RIM wants to get to the point where consumers are purchasing a BlackBerry on a whim as opposed to with the forethought that goes into it today,” Mr. Burden said. “The Pearl took RIM in that direction and the Storm goes even further.”

It’s a blend of the businesslike BlackBerry and its attendant cache along with the features consumers typically find attractive such as a 3.2 megapixel camera, media player, support for photo geo-tagging, and support for gestures.

The glitzy coordinated launch with both Verizon Wireless and Vodafone is a play for the European market where RIM has not achieved the runaway success it has in North America.

“The Storm is the first 3G entry from RIM that could meet European expectations,” said Bonny Joy, an analyst with Strategy Analytics. “Even the first generation iPhone was not received well. The Storm is 3G and touch-screen, so it will be a credible entry in Europe.”

About 75 percent of BlackBerry shipments are in North America, according to Strategy Analytics, while RIM has just over one percent market share in Western Europe.

In the U.S., the Storm 9530 will ride on Verizon’s 3G  technology. In Europe the Storm 9500 from Vodafone will support UMTS/HSPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks.