Will the next BlackBerry Storm include WiFi?

SlashGear is reporting Verizon has given Research In Motion the go-ahead to include WiFi in the next release of the BlackBerry Storm as WiFi becomes a must-have for smartphone users.

Verizon Wireless has long resisted the idea of allowing its customers to use WiFi to bypass its own data network, but a recent ABI Research report on behalf of the Wi-Fi Alliance shows consumers view WiFi as a "must-have" feature for mobile handsets. The firm found that 77 percent of mobile phone users want WiFi on their next handset and three-fourths of the people who have WiFi capability in their smartphones use it regularly.

The number of smartphones with WiFi is expected to increase to 90 percent by 2014, up from the 44 percent of smartphones that currently have the feature, according to ABI Research.

For more:
- see Wi-Fi Planet [1]

Related articles:
Study: Smartphones users prefer WiFi over 3G [2]
WiFi [3]: More relevant than ever
2008 Year in Review: WiFi gains significance again [4]