BlackBerry Storm 9570 Project Axed?

RIM are believed to have axed their upcoming BlackBerry Storm 9570 refresh, though it's unclear whether the Canadian company has frozen the Storm product line completely or just this one device.  According to BBLeaks source – who appears to be a software developer working on code for RIM – a recent missive from the company said they had "decided not to pursue this device further" and that they have "ended the program."

"Thank you for your hard work and diligence in preparing your application to support the upcoming hardware refresh of the BlackBerry Storm2 smartphone (model number 9570, codename R027). Regrettably, RIM has decided not to pursue this device further and has ended the program.

However, rest assured that you will have the opportunity to leverage the work you've put in thus far in preparing for the new OS, as BlackBerry 6 will be making its way to more Verizon products in the near future, including the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Curve 9330"

The Storm 9570 had originally been billed as the Storm 3, until further leaks suggested it was an incremental update to the second-generation model rather than an all-new device.  For their part, RIM aren't commenting, and so we'll have to wait and see whether a new Storm is on the cards or if touchscreen-only is going to be the preserve of the BlackBerry PlayBook from now on.