The BlackBerry Storm is the first in the BlackBerry series from RIM to feature a touch screen. Shortly after it's release in the fourth quarter of 2008, online offers began to spring up around the concept of a free BlackBerry Storm. In Europe, Vodafone did in fact offer a free phone when customers signed up with a minimum contract. Verizon also ran a buy one get one free offer for a limited time.

Offers abound on the Internet for a free BlackBerry Storm, as well as many other high-end electronic items. Reading the small print, however, reveals more details than the headlines on these offers. While there is no phone purchase necessary, the cost of the phone must be subsidized somehow. What happens is that while completing the "offer" for the phone, the eager recipient of the free BlackBerry Storm will be required to sign up for several trial offers - anything from magazines to online subscriptions. Once the phone seeker completes the required amount of offers, he or she will then be allowed to enter their information for the free phone. Some of these offers require you to keep the trial offers long enough to pay out the cost of the phone. The trial offers, in turn, pay a commission to the website offering the "free" phone, thus subsidizing their purchase at the retail price. The difference between their cost and their commission is how they generate a profit on a seemingly "free" phone.