The BlackBerry Storm may finally have found its pricing sweet spot. The phone definitely was overpriced at $200 last year and even the $100 price cut a few months ago didn’t seem right, but $50?!? Yeah, I wanna throw mine into a wall and piss on the remains daily, but VZW isn’t going to have any trouble at all clearing out the inventory. You know why it’s only $50 right?

Because the BlackBerry Storm 2 is coming out real soon. We’re still hearing sometime in November 2009, but it could be sooner. Verizon probably wants to make sure that they don’t have any of the original phones left when the new hotness launches.

You should still avoid purchasing this thing. Is the Storm 2 coming soon?

Verizon Wireless

Great news: The Blackberry Storm is finally usable. Most of our issues with the phone were resolved with the first official Verizon update for the Storm. It’s now a quality phone that’s worthy of the BlackBerry name.

As of Sunday, May 31, the update is available via either directly from the support section of VZW.com or from an OTA download. We downloaded the update over the air yesterday and it took about 2 hours for the 19MB update – the servers were probably running at full capacity. Once it finished downloading and installing, we were instantly pleased.

The phone is finally quick and responsive. The entire system feels noticeably faster. It no longer takes 5-7 seconds for the phone dialing app to load. Even the web browser seems to load pages faster. However, the auto-rotation of the screen still isn’t as quick as we would like it but it’s better than before. We still wish there was a way to disable this entirely though.

Even the camera is quicker. Now, the picture is displayed almost instantly when the shutter button is pressed verses the 5 second lag on the old firmware. Picture quality doesn’t seem upgraded though.

One of the biggest and most welcomed changes however is the new text selection mode.  A little box appears around the selected text that can be easily slid one way or the other to modify the selection. Previously, it was a frustrating task to select text for deletion or copy and paste. It took a steady fingernail to select the desired text.

Overall, the update transformed the phone. It took the Storm from one of the worst phones ever made, to a quality BlackBerry. We just wish it hadn’t taken Verizon seven months to update the phone. RIM has issued leaked numerous firmware updates ever since the phone launched that greatly improved the stability, but this is the first one Verizon has picked up. Never mind that, the BlackBerry Storm is finally worth your time and money.

Woohoo! I just sent my Storm to Matt, so I can’t verify this, but I’m sure it’s legit. The latest update to Google Maps for BlackBerrys, 3.0.2, is now compatible with the Storm’s GPS. In case you haven’t updated in a while this latest round includes Latitude, too. Now go get it!

via BerryReporter

Go ahead and head over to Amazon for a red hot deal on the BlackBerry Storm. RIMs lose-a-phone will cost you $99 with 2 year contract, provided you don’t throw it on the ground and step on it after a week of trying to type “google.com” into the browser.

via Gear Diary

RIM’s BlackBerry Storm, the biggest lump of crap to come out of Canada since Celine Dion, sold 500,000 units in its first month. Everyone who was everyone basically told RIM that this was a heap but did they listen? Nope.

“I found myself wanting to throw it in the ocean due to my frustration with its overall usability,” said Steven Golub, a longtime Verizon customer from Morristown, N.J., who bought the Storm the day it was released, but returned it a few weeks later.

Our own Peter Ha reviewed the phone and found it lacking. I used it for a few weeks and found it atrocious.

RIM is #2 in the U.S. and it’s abundantly clear they do a good job at keyboard phones for a certain audience. Do they really need to offer a mass market phone, especially one as ham-handed as they Storm? The Bold is well-loved and great for email. There was no reason for them to release the Storm, especially as half-baked in the first place.

The latest unreleased firmware for the Blackberry Storm (aka le lump of poo) has leaked is now available over at CrackBerry forums.

The results, so far, seem promising. I’ll install it tonight, if I can, and report back. The improvements seem manifold. To wit:

Some bugs have been fixed, the accelerometer action is definitely quicker and typing feels a bit more responsive. You’ll want to jump into our Storm OS forum for all of the details and findings surrounding this release. My opinion? This is what the Storm should have launched with.Definitely worth an install if you’re a 9530 Storm owner.

We’ve been around for a few years now and we know that a lot of you have been following us since the beginning so we wanted to reward those folks. Think of it as our version of Best Buy’s Reward Zone program. Otherwise known as the CrunchGear Loyalty Rewards Program. TeleNav has always been supportive of us and so we’ve teamed up to give away a years worth of free service for your Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm. So how do you win?

We have two separate one year packs to give away so we are going to reward the individual who has the oldest comment on CrunchGear. Simply identify your first comment on the site, and the winner is he/she with the oldest comment. We can verify these things so don’t think about cheating or you’ll get a lump of coal. You have until December 31st to find those old comments.

Bonnie Cha over at CNet has the scoop on the Storm OS update we’ve all been waiting patiently for over the last two weeks. If you actually bought this girnormous piece of poo then you can update using the Desktop Software Manager or wait for the OTA that’s said to be going out at 12:30 AM EDT. Regardless of what this update can do, I won’t be changing my review of the Storm. It really is the worst device RIM has put out on the market and I love BlackBerrys.

Update

Here come some numbers with decimals, so get ready. BGR is speculating that batches of the BlackBerry Storm that had been shipped with OS version 4.7.0.82 may have caused some sort of glitch. And when BGR asked Verizon about the official OS version, Verizon told them it was 4.7.0.65 – that’s lower than 4.7.0.82, mind you.

Turns out, your BlackBerry Storm box might have more than one sticker on it. If you’ve got version 4.7.0.65 of the OS with a yellow dot sticker and you peel back the product label on the box, you might find another label underneath it that says Version: 4.7.0.82, denoting that your phone got downgraded at the last minute.

So what does this all mean? If you somehow got your hands on a Storm with OS version 4.7.0.82, it’s probably got some sort of problem serious enough for Verizon and RIM to run off a bunch of downgrades. It also means that there’s hopefully another upgrade just around the corner to take the OS above 4.7.0.82, because clearly that version was supposed to fix a bunch of stuff from 4.7.0.65.

Whatever the case, if you’ve got a BlackBerry Storm and you find it to be a bit sluggish, it might be a couple of versions behind where it’s supposed to be by now. I’d think this issue would be high-priority for RIM and Verizon, so we’ll probably see some updates rolling out over the next few days.

I might not be a fan of the Storm but that doesn’t mean it won’t be flying off the shelves come tomorrow. You see, it’s not meant to be a gadget lover’s device. Just hear me out then flame away if you feel the need to. RIM felt the urgency to fill the gap between they’re entry level Pearl phones and their higher-end Bold. They obviously felt threatened by Apple and rightfully so. Hell, everyone else did and they began pumping out all sorts of touch-screen devices to combat Apple and everyone has failed. As I said in my review, the Storm is at the top of that pile but that means nothing at this point.

But I give RIM some credit for taking the touch-screen in a different direction. It is in no way, shape or form useful or efficient, but they certainly thought outside the box. For better or worse is not up for judgment here. They didn’t try to imitate, which I applaud them for. You simply cannot beat the iPhone’s overall UI and ease of use. Sure, I have my issues with the iPhone but it’s very user friendly.

The general consumer wants the iPhone or a device very similar to it. By general consumer I’m talking about your Average Joe. I’m not referring to readers of CrunchGear or other tech blogs. We’re a little more savvy than that and pick our devices based on minute details and don’t fall for the hype (for the most part). For example, look at how well the Samsung Instinct is selling for Sprint. People see a touch-screen device and think it’s the hottest thing since sliced bread. It doesn’t have to be an iPhone anymore. It was just the catalyst.

Getting back to the original question, what does the Storm mean for RIM and Verizon?

Well, RIM finally realizes that their lineup of devices appeal to a broader audience and that’s evident with the Curve and Pearl series (more so with the flip Pearl). And the Storm is the ultimate culmination of this even though it falls flat on its face from a tech lover’s perspective. It seems forced because RIM generally puts out very good hardware. On the flip side, this is their first foray into the touch-screen realm and I have no doubt that they will improve upon the Storm should they choose to release another touch-screen device.

What RIM really needs to focus on is the OS. They cannot rest on their laurels because Android and Apple are catching up and will soon overtake them. Think about the Application Stores, for example. The closest parity I can see is with the ringtone market. The ability to customize your own phone to give it a personality was uncanny at the time and the same goes for the ability to add applications. The BlackBerry is, however, a messaging device first and foremost. It’s meant for e-mail and the enterprise side of things, but Apple and Android have pushed them into the mainstream whether they like it or not. They must get up to speed in this area or they will lose even more market share as time goes by.

Verizon has always had a stable of less than stellar devices but they’ve picked up the pace since they lost the iPhone. They can tout the largest network in America, but that means nothing when you have a sub-par selection of devices. Verizon did a good job of not messing with the Storm as they generally do on other devices. Of course, there is no Wi-Fi and the GPS is locked into VZ Navigator. That was to be expected so it comes as no shock to me, but Verizon chose not to include their music app, which comes as a shock. How much time and money have they spent in the last year to build their music store? I hope it’s coming to the Application Center very soon.

At $200 most consumers will see that it’s the same price as an 8GB iPhone 3G and assume it does the same thing because it has a touch-screen. Those who are strapped to Verizon will surely upgrade and be done with it. The Storm will sell and it’s going to sell very well.

Love it or hate it, you have to give it to Dave Ciccone of Mobility Today: the boy knows how to video review a phone. His 29 minute opus is so thorough that I felt like I was in his pocket, nestled up against his car keys.

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

E-mail

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.

We may or may not have one lurking around the office, but in case we do, what would you like to know about it? Let us know in comments.

If we piece together a couple of Verizon sources, the BlackBerry Storm will launch on November 17, 2008 for $219 with a two-year contract. None of this is of course confirmed through VZW, but it seems to fit the timetable and price point.

Verizon needs to get this BlackBerry out before the holidays as some suits will want to treat themselves to a new CrackBerry as a stocking stuffer. Plus, Verizon does not have a true iPhone killer yet and while the Storm will not slay the king, it’s the closest thing on the market so the price must be close to the iP3G’s $199 entry price.

Once again, none of this is confirmed but Verizon must be close to releasing this BlackBerry. What are they waiting for?

ZDNet – Release date

HoFo via Eng – Price

Look, I like BlackBerries just as much as the next guy, but this is beyond fanboyism. This is just plain stupid. TJ from Toledo, OH, fails to realize (maybe) that his tattoo, which probably cost him anywhere from $200-$400, is way more than what the Storm will likely retail for. Is the Storm so great that you couldn’t wait a couple weeks and possibly save a couple Benjamins?

Kudos to CrackBerry for getting this moron to agree to it. Video after the jump.