While Verizon "twiddles" their thumbs about the release of the Blackberry Storm, Vodafone is taking some initiative in getting the device to market. The phone is going to be available on the Vodafone network before Verizon and the people at T3 have posted pictures of it’s unboxing.

Once again it looks like Europe is going to beat North America to the punch about their market readiness of devices. All I know is that I can’t wait to test one out.

Apple is in the news with rumors about a supposed video rental service due out this autumn. They already offer films for download and have distribution deals with Walt Disney and Paramount, but are in talks with major Hollywood studios at the moment.

One studio exec says that the service is looking to compete with the cable companies and anyone else offering VOD into the home.

The $2.99 downloads would be viewable for 30 days and playable on at least one other device like an iPod or iPhone, but their software would prevent copying.

VOD is a growing revenue stream for cable companies and satellite operators, such as Direct TV. Online services which offer this service include Xbox Live, Movie­link and Unbox, but none of these has a customer base as large as Apple.

source The Financial Times Limited 2007