Of all the iPhone clones and "iPhone killers" in the market, the BlackBerry Storm is perhaps the most explicit response to the introduction of the Apple device (there's no physical keyboard). Today the reviews are finally out and they're mostly positive but mixed overall. Some conclude that this is a worthy competitor to the iPhone and exceeds it in many ways; others say that it falls short (arguably the biggest flaw is no WiFi capability).

You can read most of the reviews here. And here's a short roundup of a few of the major ones:

USA Today:

Storm costs $200 with a two-year contract after a rebate, same as the smallest-capacity iPhone. It has a better camera, works as a tethered modem (for an extra fee) and has expandable memory, voice dialing, multimedia messaging, support for Bluetooth stereo, copy-and-paste functionality and other features missing in the iPhone. BlackBerry handsets also boast robust e-mail capabilities that have famously attracted users such as President-elect Barack Obama.

Given all that, you'd think the Storm is the clear winner. Not so. For starters, the iPhone is more intuitive and boasts, well, a cool iPod. Accessing the home screen on the iPhone is a button away. On Storm, there are confusingly two screenfuls of icons, one with fewer icons. But I wish iPhone had a back button like the Storm.

Storm lacks Wi-Fi — and that's a mistake. You're not always going to be able to access Verizon's speedy EV-DO wireless network, which was the case in my basement. Verizon says Wi-Fi would have added to the size and cost.

Engadget:

It's clear from the device itself and the massive promotional push that both RIM and Verizon are giving the Storm that they view this as a proper threat to the iPhone's dominance in the smartphone market. Over the last few weeks we've been bombarded with commercials, leaks, press releases, and special events all celebrating the arrival of the Storm, both here and abroad. So it seems fairly obvious that yes, the companies believe they have a real contender on their hands -- and in many ways they do. The selling points are easy: the phone is gorgeous to look at and hold, it's designed and backed by RIM (now almost a household name thanks to their prevalence in the business and entertainment markets), and it's packed with features that, on paper, make it seem not only as good as the iPhone, but better. The only hitch in this plan is a major one: it's not as easy, enjoyable, or consistent to use as the iPhone, and the one place where everyone is sure they have an upper hand -- that wow-inducing clickable screen -- just isn't all that great.

Walt Mossberg/Wall Street Journal:

The Web browser is much improved over the one in older BlackBerry models, and offers multiple ways to view and navigate pages, including one in which a finger moves a cursor, just as on a PC. But I found that panning and zooming in the browser was a bit slower and more awkward than on the iPhone. And, to make some Web sites work properly, I had to dig through menus to change options.

Using the BlackBerry desktop software, I was easily able to synchronize my calendar and contact data over a cable from a Windows PC. (There’s also Mac software for the same task.) But, unlike the iPhone or the G1, the Storm doesn’t offer wireless synchronization from consumer services, only from corporate servers.

The Storm’s multimedia software isn’t as fancy as the iPhone’s, but it’s better than the G1’s, and worked very well in my tests.

It's starting to become clear that, absent some important usability upgrades in the next WinMo 6.X update (and the forthcoming 7), the US smartphone market could well be dominated by Apple, RIM and, possibly, Android.