The ‘iPhone killer’ label (which I hate using – BTW) has been thrown around since the first touch-screen device hit the market after the original iPhone was launched last year. Unfortunately, nothing has been able to live up to the hype. Both consumers (you) and techies (us) have been eagerly awaiting the launch of the Storm in the hopes that it would knock the iPhone down a peg, or even level the playing field. I don’t want to dash your dreams, but the Storm is not on par with the iPhone. It is, however, the closest device available on the market today to compete with the iPhone. But that’s not saying much. Imagine the iPhone being on top of a mountain with the rest of the touch-screen devices at base camp. The Storm sits atop all the rest, but it’s still at base camp.
Video after the jump.
The Good
It’s a BlackBerry through and through so there are no problems here. You can swipe through e-mails by going left to right and vice versa, but swiping from right to left on the last e-mail will put you back at your inbox.
Cut/Paste
It’s not the most intuitive feature jumping from a standard QWERTY BlackBerry, but the iPhone doesn’t have it, so that’s saying something. However, it doesn’t always register my tap or click in the right spot, which is extremely frustrating. The point is that, I don’t want to take an extra 10 seconds or more to tap/click the sweet spot to select exactly what I want. It works great on my Curve and Bold and takes far less time. But, again, the Storm has it and the iPhone does not. Take it however you want.
Browser
I had zero issues with the Storm’s browser. Zooming in and out is simple and it seems to load most pages fine, except the NYTs as it reverts to the mobile edition and doesn’t want to load the regular site. Anything with a lot of Javascript chorks, though. Everywhere else on the device there are scroll up/scroll down keys but they’re missing on the browser. Seems like an odd move, but the navigation bar would be a bit crowded.
Camera
It has a flash and auto focus, and it takes video. It even zooms in and out by swiping from corner to the center or vice versa. Picture quality is very good and certainly beats out the iPhone. It takes a very long time to focus and capture an image (slower than the iPhone). I believe it’s best suited for still photography.
Visual Voicemail
The interface is very similar to that of the iPhone and works just fine.
Application Center
There are currently eight applications available that include: Visual Voicemail, VZ Navigator, Flickr, Facebook, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. It’s no Apple App Store, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
Media
I wasn’t able to test all video formats, so I apologize for that in advance, but the Storm was able to handle all the formats (mostly MP4s) that I threw onto it. The default music player is nothing fancy, but it plays music and that’s all I need it to do. Because of the screen’s size, pictures look crisp and sharp and you can swipe across the screen to get from one picture to another.
Call quality
Seemed fine to me and those on the other end said I came across crystal clear. Voice dialing was peppy and fairly accurate.
The Bad
I like the way RIM handled the touch-screen because it’s different than what every other manufacturer has done, but I’m not the biggest fan of the clickable screen. It’s a BlackBerry, first and foremost, and it’s meant to knock out e-mails, texts, and IMs and I just can’t do those things as efficiently as I would on a standard BlackBerry. When you pull up any one of the three keyboards, you lose half the screen. Yes, the iPhone falls into that trap as well, but I’m also making a direct comparison to other BlackBerrys here. I don’t want to lose that big beautiful screen just because I need to type something.
Because of the nature of the screen I worry that all the dust and dirt will affect its performance in the long run by burrowing into the sides.
The accelerometer is spastic on the Storm. It reorientates itself far too often. I ran into some issues when taking the Storm out of my pocket and unlocking it when it was still in landscape mode where it remained for some time. It’s best to let the Storm get back into portrait mode before unlocking.
I think it’s safe to say that BlackBerry users rely on shortcuts and the Storm obviously fails in this department. By pressing down on the Home key you’re presented with the active apps menu (alt-back button on all other BlackBerrys), but it simply doesn’t get the job done.
The lack of physical keys also takes away the ability to soft and hard reset the Storm. Are we supposed to take the battery out every time we want to reset the device?
Grey area
OS
RIM, please stop worrying about the hardware and speed up the OS updates. Yes, it’s always stable when released, but I don’t like waiting years and years for you to update the software (HTML e-mail, anyone?). You can’t take a nap in this department anymore with Apple and Android becoming major players.
Overall
I love BlackBerrys and will finally admit that the iPhone is not stupid. I refuse to give up one for another, so I carry around both devices. I wish the Storm were the real iPhone killer, but it’s not and I’m afraid there won’t be anything to ‘kill’ it for a while. So, let’s all just move on until someone makes some decent hardware for Android — but that’s neither here nor there. If you can get used to the click screen and I’m sure you will (and so will I, but I’ve only had it for 36 hours thus far) then the Storm combines what’s great about RIM and their products and does a decent job of bringing in the touch-screen aspect. I won’t be ditching my Bold or iPhone 3G for the Storm, but if you’ve been waiting for it then I strongly encourage you to go to your local Verizon Wireless store and spend some time with it. I don’t think you hardcore BlackBerry users will like it, especially if you’re used to shortcuts and hot keys and hammering out text, but if you’re a casual user looking for a touch-screen device (which is the market RIM seems to be going after here) then go for it.
If there’s something specific you’d like me to take a look at, then please drop your questions in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Is the clicking on the touch screen annoying, compared to the iphone?
I’ve been waiting for the Storm to come out for a while, but then I saw they had that suretype keyboard that the pearl has, and they’ve added the haptic feedback, I wasn’t sure it was going to make the cut?
Do you think the keyboard on the Storm’s at least as good as the iphone’s?
It doesn’t have haptic feedback, evbart. The entire screen is a button that clicks. I can’t say one way or another because they’re completely different.
I wish I could turn off “click” while typing, but clicking while browsing though menus is quite fine with me. And since its all software control Storm should give a setting to turn off.
The “clicking” screen makes this phone feel like a toy for a two year old child. RIM would have done SO much better to do away with the feedback effect and have a fixed screen.
My biggest issue is that if you’re typing fast, which one is inclined to be doing on a phone made for emailing, you can’t hit letters in close succession as the screen has to “unclick” itself.
I was looking forward to getting one but now I’ve resigned myself to another few months of waiting for something else to arrive.
Pitty
Exactly. Get the Bold!
How is the battery life on yours? Mine does not last long at all. :(
Jeez, talk about a poor review. Spelling problems, grammar issues, and very light on details and comparisons.
I realize you were rushing to try and get one of the first reviews out there, but really…
The written review was cool - but the video review was poor. Bad lighting…no continuity…boring…if you would’ve practiced it just a couple times I’m sure you could’ve reduced the review from 11 minutes to 3 minutes. I invested 11 minutes of my time because I respect your authority on these devices…so I felt obliged to let you know why I wasn’t happy.
I hear it’s a “world-phone” with GSM, but does it have a SIM card slot?
Yes it does. Check out the video.
The click-response screen was supposed to be one of the highlights of the device by making the lack of a physical keyboard less of an issue. Looks like RIM tried to make too many leaps with the device.
Does the “clicking” of the screen essentially add an extra step for every touch, or is it not that much more cumbersome?
I wouldn’t say it adds an extra step, but I don’t select apps/icons before launching them. It depends on how you would use it.
How about the lack of Wifi support, no multitouch, no app store, or extra fat (from hw for both cdma/gsm support)? How about the fact you can carry an extra battery compare to the iphone?
Verizon’s network penetrates most places, so the lack of Wi-Fi doesn’t really bug me. I have no issues with the inability to pinch. The Storm’s battery is a new model and battery life has been okay for me so far.
The coverage of the Verizon network maybe okay, but they charge you for MB and its surely not as fast as wifi on the iPhone.
Rim does have an app store. Not as intuitive as the iphone, but it does include a store.
man, buy a copy editor, peter. please. you know your tech but your writing really needs a buddy.
There’s 3 big questions I have with the Storm: Can I type on it? Is this thing usable in winter in Wisconsin? and Can I run any app, or just those written for the Storm?
I’ve already decided I want a BlackBerry. But I think the best thing for me to do, at least to answer #1, is to go to VZW and play with one. I already told the tech “I’ll see you next week” when he did a software upgrade on my current POS phone (Samsung Alias) to hopefully fix a random shutdown issue.
I’m due for my new every two next month, so I could theoretically get it almost immediately, but I’d have to wait until 4/20/09 (no, I’m not joking, that’s the actual contract end date) to get the other BB I’ve been eying: the Bold.
-Adam
I won’t be ditching my Bold or Curve for the Storm, Adam. If you’re a heavy e-mail user and texter than get a BB with a physical keyboard. I’m not sure how it holds up in the cold. I believe you can download most apps that are available for BlackBerrys regardless of which model you have.
ok, cool. I have a friend that switched from the iPhone to the Curve because of the iPhone’s lack of a physical keyboard.
I will keep that in mind when I’m looking.
-Adam
Get the Bold, Adam.
I’m actually impressed.
RIM hasn’t tried to copy the Iphone. It took what they thought were the successful features and tried to improve on the unsuccessful ones.
I want to try out the clickable screen before deciding, but it seems like a great idea. I wouldn’t worry about durability - I’d simply get insurance just in case. That’s way it’s not my problem.
One very important thing that I’d like to know is battery life. How long does it last normally? What if you use the browser, wi-fi, watch videos etc?
There’s no Wi-Fi on the Storm. Battery life has been good to me so far. I’m not a heavy media user on my devices, so my battery consumption is much different for those that do. That being said, I’m sure you can get a days worth of heavy Internet browsing and video watching.
I disagree with you on the insurance, though. As a consumer why should I be forced to pay for insurance every month on a device that shouldn’t be breaking because a bit of dirt and dust gets wedged under the screen?
I completely agree with your dislike for the term ‘iPhone Killer’. In the same way that nobody can do a better impersonation of myself then I can, no other device can out-do the iPhone at being an iPhone.
For a device to be more successful then the iPhone it’ll need to be truly original. Something that’s completely outside the box and our way of thinking right now. It’ll need to be as ground breaking as the iPhone was when it was first released.
The secret to the true ‘iPhone Killer’ is to ignore the iPhone completely when designing the device and to build it on it’s own terms. That’s what’ll lead to true innovation instead of the incremental improvements we’re seeing today.
Agreed.
YAEMF (Yet another enormous Mac-Fag)
The iPhone is a complete piece of teenage pop crap.
Here’s the short list:
1. Can’t turn off the auto-complete feature.
2. Can’t swap out a battery.
3. Does not synch with Outlook (don’t say it does, ’cause it doesn’t..)
And the list goes on and on….
So if your 13 and have to have the same toy as your friends, go get yourself an iPhone.
Real men use Blackberry’s.
Real men know the difference between “your” and “you’re”
Heh.
You are a total douche on par with John Edwards. The iPhone is revolutionary and you can see it with all the imitators. Stop Apple hating for no reason. Real men know how to recognize innovation. And calling people mac fags for using a game changing device just makes you sound like a 15 year old who loves his Windows PC too much.
Billy Bob:
With the caveat of performing the Jailbreak (thank you iPhone Dev Team):
1) Auto-Complete can be disabled w/ BossPrefs App. Auto-disable correction will be available in firmware 2.2 for people who don’t wish to run the jailbreak.
2) Swapping batteries. Not really a big deal. There are external power adapters/dongles that range in price from $5 (uses AAA batteries) to a modest $40 one that attaches cleanly to the bottom of the phone. Last I looked, most OTHER phones charge about $30-40 for a spare battery.
3) Does not sync with Outlook. DOES sync with an Exchange Server. Outlook Express, being a Microsoft product, is not going to be Apple-friendly. That said, even blackberry phones sync better with Exchange over Outlook.
‘Real men …’? Sir, ‘Real Men’ don’t use that phrase at all. However, smart people simply use the technology most suited to the task. Blackberry, iPhone, or standard flip .. it all depends on your needs. It’s not a badge of of your manhood.
“‘Real men …’? Sir, ‘Real Men’ don’t use that phrase at all. However, smart people simply use the technology most suited to the task. Blackberry, iPhone, or standard flip .. it all depends on your needs. It’s not a badge of of your manhood.”
EXACTLY.
I was wondering how this thing would compare to the HTC Touch Pro and now I have no doubts that the HTC device is a better product than RIM’s.
Higher resolution, slide out keyboard + touch screen, nice browser, you tube app… Yeah I am definitely getting the HTC touch pro now.
It all depends on your preference of OS, JC.
I don’t like neither iphone nor storm. I prefer Bold or any other cellphone with physical keys…
Cheers to that, but I do like my iPhone.
How is the battery life? Friends of mine with the 3G iPhone can barely make it through the day with normal usage, which is completely unacceptable in my opinion. Does the Storm offer greater battery life with similar usage?
What’s the deal with the GPS? How “unlocked” is it?
There seems to be conflicting information floating around on this.
Unless you’re using VZ Navigator it’s pretty ‘locked’ down. Google Maps doesn’t sync with the GPS and you’re given the usual ‘your location is within x amount of meters’ dribble.
Terrible.
How can you say that “the Storm is not on par with the iPhone” when your “the good” section is 3 times that of “the bad” section? The iPhone is a media device not a communication device. I bought into this hype and am regretting it severely.
iPhone has no copy/paste. creating contacts is cumbersome and a pain. no IM. no real time email. forget about ring tones. no way to tell from a locked screen you have missed a call/email/message/text. these are SIMPLE things the iPhone can’t do easily that i thought i could live with until apple’s promises came true - well guess what? It’s now almost December and September [when the world was promised] has come and gone, long ago.
I hate the apple app store - it is a money pit. Apple should be paying the developers not charging the end users. Apps should be free no matter what, they drive the selling of iPhones - especially now with the new marketing campaign [given they are only advertising the free ones. But the pay ones are the ones that TRY to give you some of the lacking functionality, and they still fail because of the limitations set forth by Apple].
IMO the only thing good about the iPhone is the games, maybe iTunes, and it looks good.
That. is. it.
Could have bought an iPod and got the same thing. Not a communication device.
Isn’t that what a PHONE is supposed to be?
This is RIM’s attempt at besting the iPhone at its own game. If it doesn’t have the complete package, then it doesn’t have the complete package. Being a Blackberry user, I was interested in this device. But, having read a bunch of these reviews, it doesn’t seem to me that this phone offers anything over the current crop of BBs.
Frankly, I like keys and this phone’s touchscreen doesn’t seem any better than any other touchscreen phone when it comes to inputting text. Throw in the fact that all of the rest of the software, aside from the browser, appears to be the same as every other BlackBerry, but with a different skin, and I really don’t see the draw here.
It’s like every other BlackBerry you’ve ever used, but they’ve made it a pain in the ass to use by making it a touch device. I don’t think that’s going to tempt a lot of iPhone users, and it’s certainly not beating Apple at its own game.
I think is is just BB attempt to give a more usable interface to the user and include all of the BB features that are more applicable in a phone. If you take away the keyboard you have more of a work space unless we make the device bigger. I’ve yet to have anyone list “bad” blackberry features other than the past browser - now that looks pretty good.
I think is is just BB attempt to give a more usable interface to the user and include all of the BB features that are more applicable in a phone. If you take away the keyboard you have more of a work space unless we make the device bigger. I’ve yet to have anyone list “bad” blackberry features other than the past browser - now that looks pretty good.
iPhone has no copy/paste: Yep, that’s right on the money.
No way to tell from a locked screen you missed a call/email/message: Um. Wrong. Example:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2294/2367814146_c7efe0a350.jpg
Sorry, link doesn’t work. On my iPhone I don’t see any LED or and native indicator when my screen is locked and blackened that I have a any unread message/missed call of any kind. I have to wake it up and check it constantly. Happy to see the link, please repost image - thanks.
I have a Pearl and I’m pretty much an email and text guy…not huge into extra bells and whistles…but I’m dying for a bigger UI and a far improved internet/browser. I have real problems on the Pearl for a couple of different and annoying reasons. I’m a Verizon user so iPhones have been out and I thought the Stoerm would suffice, but it seems for email and text junkies it’s not the ideal. Recommendations?
If you want a BlackBerry then you’re going to have to switch to AT&T because the Bold is best of the bunch.
The Storm is still going to be a huge improvement over the Pearl. Remember stuff like software lag will be fixed with updates.. most major releases have a lot of the minor irritating issues pointed out in the review when they initially come out.
I really don’t see how this is going to be a “huge” improvement over the Pearl, or Curve, or any other modern Blackberry, for that matter.
like i said in my previous post the HTC Touch Pro is definitely looking like a winner in that market (its on ATT, Spring, Verizon, and Alltel). Its touch capable, slide out keyboard, opera mobile, win 6.1, full email capabilities, wifi enabled (this a biggie over the storm), and can hold a 16gig sdhc card (i seen the att’s touted as being able to use a 32 gig but no confirmation on that for verizon)
The clickable screen has a “getting used to” curve just like anything new. The iPhone screen did too, power users just don’t remember it because they’re so used to it now they can type extremely quickly.
I’m stuck with AT&T and forced with only BES option at work, so obviously I need to stay with Blackberry. I have the old Curve 8300 and I’m curious why the new Bold has to force this “new” keyboard down my throat? And it’s a little bigger as well. And check out that price tag?? I feel like I’m stuck with no options. Is there any hope for me?
Here is another review of the Storm:
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/phones/BlackBerry-Storm.htm
I saw a video showing the Storm loadsing the full nytimes.com site, not the wap version
Hi Peter,
nice report thank you for the help and support related to the article! What about battery performance? better, worse, or the same?
There is one weakness that Apple and Steve Jobs apparently haven’t learned even after the whole microsoft issue and that is that hardware is not as important as software. Google is kind of acting like microsoft and Steve Jobs is still being Steve Jobs. From having an Iphone i know that it breaks down quite frequently however the software is decent. The android platform however uses the iphone platform as a butt whipe. There is no comparison whatsoever and like mentioned in the review i hope some half decent hardware is released for the android. Also i think the G1 phone is better that the iphone regardless of its hardware.
If indeed I cannot use the built-in GPS chip with ANY application I want to use, this is a HUGE fail on Verizon’s part. Verizon, VZNavigator SUCKS and is FAR from the LBS “be-all, end-all” you seem to think it is. There are FAR more LBS functions than turn-by-turn navigation and finding a Starbucks. Listen to your damn customers and stop trying to nickle and dime us to death.
The blackberry Storm looks really fantastic. The clicking buttons are key - especially if you intend on texting while driving
Communication Topics
On all the reviews of the Storm so far, the ‘clickable’ screen is audible. How loud is the click in person and should I be concerned that other passengers on my daily train commute will despise me for my clicking?
It’s very subtle, gecko.
Can the click sound be turned off?
I understand why you like the Bold better as a device. I don’t understand why you tell people to go with the Bold over the storm. As I see it you have two options.
A. Get a Storm.
B. Wait for the Bold or the Curve 8900 to come to Verizon.
At@t had been one of the worst providers of cell phone service I have ever dealt with. I had never had a dropped call until using At@t service.
The Bold may be a better device in some ways, but the most important thing is the network. And Verizon had the best network in the US hands down.
I would wait for the bold or curve 8900 to come to verizon. waiting a year or so on a good network is worth 2 years on a bad one.
Hi,
For a 1st time user of a smart phones, I’m thinking of getting a Storm when it comes out vs. iphone. Please share your thoughts of which device is best suited a new user like me in term of overall costs, easy to use, and reliability. Thanks so much and ALOHA.
Alan
I’ve just sent you an inquiry about the Storm vs. iphone. Please kindly respond via my email. Thanks again.
Alan from Honolulu
What’s the screen actually made out of - plastic or glass like the iPhone? I don’t hear it mentioned often, but a major selling point of the iphone is that it’s actual glass and very difficult to damage. I’m worried that a plastic touchscreen will become scratched and ugly pretty quickly (as the screen on my curve and every other phone was after a month without me constantly touching it!)
I think it’s plastic, Jeffrey, but I’ll check with RIM.
Nothing about the removable battery; the better battery life; the SD card?
There really is no comparison between the iPhone and the Storm. If you want a pocket video and music player then go ahead and keep your iPhone.
Otherwise, unless you want to carry two devices the Storm is as good as it gets.
You’ll get about halfway through your day off a full charge with moderate media and web browsing use. It’s not very good and you’ll likely need a second battery.
Could you try using the touch screen with a screen protector like Invisishield or something and report on whether it affects the sensitivity, look, feel, anything? I am afraid that the screen protectors that I’ve used in the past may affect the sensitivity of the capacitive response or if nothing else, it may affect the tactile ability to swipe or slide your fingers on, i.e. feel to sticky.
Thanks,
I’m thinking of getting an iPhone, but am worrid about AT&T’s apparently unreliable network coverage across the country as I travel a great deal in the U.S., often to small towns. In 12 years I’ve rarely had much of a problm with Verizon Wireless. Just how much of a problem is AT&T in comparison?
I said it once and I will say it again
http://www.stormsucks.com
OK, so I won’t get a Storm. But what about the AT&T network? Is it as lousy as everyone says it is?
I have no issues with AT&T’s network, but I’m in NYC where it’s very robust. It all depends on where you are.
I use it on Verizon’s towers. I live in the sticks. Used my mother’s address to get on AT&T. When I travel to Vegas, the nearest Big City, AT&T works great. Using the iPhone is a pleasure and the app store addictive. I don’t use it for music much, mainly podcasts. Over the air podcasts and google street view are killer features. Copy and paste, it will be added once they figure how to innovate a method for using it with multi-touch. I would buy the iPhone or the iPod Touch for the Flight Sim app alone. I have used a BB and find them to be nice phones, but the lack of HTML email kills it for me. Of course, I am not corporate, so I do not comprehend the need for BB’s email service. That is not a knock on the BB or corporate jobs, I just have never worked in that environment, so I do not understand it. I find Apple’s locked down approach nice because everything usually works in a seamless and consistent fashion. I am not a bells and whistles kind of person. I just want and easy to use and easy to understand interface on a nice looking piece of hardware. I am vain and looks are important to me. Apple does this well. Wait, what was your question again?
528 MHz processor, not 624 MHz, neutered, matter of fact they have chosen a cheaper Cpu pxa930 instead of the powerful pxa320 (Samsung Omnia) which can be over clocked to a 806mhz (pxa320 has 256 kb l2 cache and a 768 kb 3d frame buffer)
Not VGA, only half the revolution! When they thought of the resolution, they saw the iphone as the limit, there is no creativity (… copying)
No wide screen format to play movies nicely, only square 4:3 aspect ratio, they forgot to copy that.
No infrared port
No flash support
No Bluetooth v2.1
No video acceleration
No LED, regular TFT LCD
No 16.7 millions true colors like the iphone,
No WIMAX, don’t even dream about it
No WIFI, no streaming “not allowed thru. Plans”
No high number of channels of polyphonic (32 channels only) ringtones typically 72
Pages are slow to load and render and zoom/pan operations were slow and jerky no matter what the software version is, till it becomes 5. And up.
Not really built for multi tasking only small memory even it has big Rom, not enough Ram 128MB
No 8-megapixel camera
No stereo microphone
No stereo loudspeaker
No electronic dictionary
No business card recognition
No finger print reader
The phone you’re describing would be at least 1.5 times more money than the current storm, maybe 2x. A company like RIM at this point can’t price themselves out of the market just when they are hitting thier stride. Don’t get me wrong, I love all those features, but I don’t know if I’d pay $400 for a phone, and I’m talking subsidized cost.
David,
I don’t personally believe ATT network is as bad as some haters would make it out to be, or they wouldn’t have what som 80 million customers! That said, I too travel extensively and use my Blackberry as a tethered modem for my laptop and for calls and email and tethering on Verizon and their network has ALWAYS performed stellar for me. It has literally been YEARS since I had a dropped call on my end. Granted I do work for Navy so I’m mostly at sites close to the coast so YMMV in middle America. I know I had no coverage along I-40 Texas panhandle when I drove home cross country right after 9/11, but that was a while ago and is the only time I recall getting “no bars”. ATT has rapidly rolled out or upgraded cell sites to 3G this past year so much of the coverage problems and slow data speed of the past HAS been addressed (though not to some’s satisfaction). For ME though, there would have to be a REALLY compelling device to get me to switch to ATT, and there isn’t one (yet) that appealing. I suspect I’m haolding out for the Blackberry Niagra when I am new-every-two eligible in March, but maybe Storm will have bugs out and compelling apps by then?
Well, RIM is supposed to be rolling out their application center/store by Q1 of next year so anything can happen.
On a side note - my thumbs really hurt from clicking the Storm’s screen.
I have been waiting for the Storm to come out but after reading these reviews I think I’ll check out the Curve. I just wanted to comment to the whiners earlier in the comments regarding spelling and grammar, why don’t you go to Craiglst Rants and Raves? I appreciate anyone who takes the time to research and post good info and am willing to accept the occasional faux pas. Thanks for the great post!
i have the storm and don’t agree with this review. this one is way more accurate to what i think
http://admiralh.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/why-the-blackberry-storm-is-no-iphone-killer/
http://admiralh.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/why-the-blackberry-storm-is-no-iphone-killer/
I bought the Storm first thing Friday morning, and I love it. May I point out the possibility that Blackberry users advising others to get the Storm or Bold may be biased because they are so accustomed to all the Blackberries that came before? That perhaps it the change that is causing the negative experience, not the function of the device itself.
This is my first Blackberry and I didn’t get an iPhone. I chose Blackberry because of the Verizon data network. I chose the Storm because…why not?
I LOVE the clickable screen,. I tried typing on a friend’s iPhone and the errant keystrokes drove me nuts; I couldn’t tell if the device was accepting a keystroke or not. On the Storm, there is no doubt that I have made a keystroke.
I hope that RIM can get their app store up before the ETA of next March, thoough. Trolling around the internet looking for apps has been a royal pain.
Does the Blackberry Storm sync with only a PC? Can it sync with MacBook Pro?
Does the Blackberry Storm sync with only a PC? Can it sync with MacBook Pro?
It can with an app called PocketMac, but the Storm version is not ready yet, it is in Beta testing as of Monday.
Helpful info, i also find a useful software for blackberry storm, which can convert any dvd or video to blackberry, share it here:
http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/video-to-blackberry.html#116
I thought I would love the Storm when when I tried it, I really liked my iphone better. I also thought my hands would get tired from typing on the storm, which Peter pointed out.
I think this is great thought. Hope the Storm drives apple to increase their email features and add cut and paste for goodness sake.
These are really different devices. And Peter you for got to point out what engadget did so well. The Storm UI has the touch screen features added after the UI was created. The iphone’s IU was created for a touch screen. Once you think of it that way, it really makes these different devices
I have had so much trouble with the browser…anything from getting into Netflix to bank accounts etc, nothing comes up beyond the actual login in screen that is interactive. When I do get past login (which takes over 5 minutes) and try to get into things specific (i.e. my Queue on Netflix) it just freezes and becomes a total whitescreen or reverts back to previous page)
Any ideas on what that could be?
I have had so much trouble with the browser…anything from getting into Netflix to bank accounts etc, nothing comes up beyond the actual login in screen that is interactive. When I do get past login (which takes over 5 minutes) and try to get into things specific (i.e. my Queue on Netflix) it just freezes and becomes a total whitescreen or reverts back to previous page)
Any ideas on what that could be?
BB Storm: Sucks.
I have a Palm Treo and I thought I’d upgrade to a better system. Well Storm isn’t it. Battery life is non existent if you actually utilize the services available. The click is annoying because first you have to highlight and then click. Not very audible but annoying to use. The subtle touch screen of Palm is MUCH better. You can sit with it for hours and still be better off doing something else.
Oh yeah and since I have a mac, syncronizing is pure torture just to end up with contacts and that’s it. Pocketmac doesn’t do media, doesn’t to calendar… I can’t transfer anything over from Palm except the contacts.
For the record, to do a hard reset of the Storm, OPTIONS; SECURITY OPTIONS; GENERAL SETTINGS; SERVICES; WIPE HANDHELD. This took hours to figure out because nobody online said it right.
So tomorrow I go and try to return the sucker and return to the Treo for now. IPhone is tempting but the $$$ involved is not quite worth it just yet.
I also had random menu options pop up in spanish. Like when I had the keypad up and tap on the three buttons on top, they came out in spanish. Then in Blackberry chat, the menu buttons on the bottom also showed in spanish. All of my language settings were in US English. I triple checked.
Texts I sent were received an average of 2 hours later. This never happened with the Treo. And while I could do smiley faces in BB text, they were no longer available in SMS. My texting capability slowed down considerably to the point that I would rather call than text-which is so not me.
All things considered, it was a noble attempt from BB to woo future PDA/Smartphone people, but this isn’t it. If I wasn’t going to return it tomorrow I would have thrown it a few dozen times. I’ve only had this for 3 days.
So tomorrow I go and try to return the sucker and return to the Treo for now. iPhone is tempting but the $$$ involved is not quite worth it just yet.
I am NOT liking the click type much at all, but short including a keyboard in my BlackBerry Storm accessories order at http://www.blackberrysource.com/category/BlackBerry_Storm-.htm I just guess I will have to get used to it. I have considered getting the keyboard but that means clicking of a different kind - at least it would be one I am used to. Argh.
hahahaha still at the base camp? Ive had both iphones, and a ipod touch(redundant yes, but eh), and now I have the storm. ok, the storm is faster(with OS update) than the iphone, can send MMS, can multitask quite well. has a better screen, removable battery, removable memory, Worldband support, look at this, I can recieve IM’s in the background. The camera on the storm is nothing to rave about but its pretty good. So new stack up, The iphone may be on top of the mountain, but the Storm is sitting on a cloud above the mountain. hahahahaa I liked the concept of the iphone, but in operation, I now think to myself, wow what a waste of money
are there any problems whith the blackberry storm if so please tell me what they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!