Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas boys and girls. It's an otherwise normal person dressed up in a Santa suit here. I'm here to deliver some very special Christmas news to all you crackberry addicts and gadget lovers out there.

So who here wants a BlackBerry Storm? Well, we've known that it was going to be available exclusively on Vodafone here in Australia, and today I can happily tell you that you can get your touchscreen Blackberry fix from December 1 all around the country. But more than that, I have some pricing for you. What, you don't think that all those elves up in RIM's Canadian sweatshop work for free, do you?

The phone will be available for free on a number of plans over 24 months, the cheapest being $69 a month, and the most expensive costing $149 a month. Included in all the plans are blackberry email and data, which Vodafone claim is unlimited*. Notice that '*' at the end of unlimited? That means it's not, you know, unlimited. But for the most part, you need not worry about excess data, which is a nice touch for all the good boys and girls out there.

The Storm is also compatible with Vodafone's MusicStation Service and comes pre-loaded with a heap of social networking apps like Flickr and Facebook.

If you can't wait for your parents to pretend that some guy who looks like me when I'm wearing this bright red suit and give you a Storm of your own, you can preregister your interest here. Anyone who does pre-register not only has the chance to get the phone early, but will also receive a bonus 8GB memory card, which you can either use yourself or regift come Christmas day. Totally up to you.

Read the full press release at GIZMODO

By Nick Broughall