Get thee to Best Buy as soon as possible if you want to pre-order a BlackBerry Storm, which, as we all know, is the first BlackBerry with a touchscreen. A crisp $50 bill and a smile is all that’s required to pre-order this, Verizon Wireless’ “we’re cool, too!” device.
There’s the small issue of not knowing exactly what the final price will be when it’s released later this month—speculation puts it at between $199 and $299. I, for one, hopes Verizon charges something outrages, like $800, just as a goof.
Presumably all you have to do is inquire about the device once in the store.
We still don’t know one very important thing about the BlackBerry Storm: how much is the thing gonna cost? Vodafone, which carries the Storm in the UK, may have just provided us a few hints.
Pricing plans for the phone have leaked, and the phone itself goes as low as €49 ($62) with the most expensive monthly plan.
That brings us to Verizon Wireless, which, you’ll remember, is a joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone. If Vodafone is willing to to sell the first touchscreen BlackBerry for as low as $62, how low will VWZ go? Say, $0, maybe? Not likely, but don’t be surprised to see the Storm selling for a tantalizing low amount.
Again, as if I need to remind you, take all of this with a grain of salt. Then, with the same grain of salt, enjoy your weekend.
Why is it that the BlackBerry Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi? If you believe BoyGenius—and how could you not!—it’s because Verizon Wireless doesn’t want it to have Wi-Fi. That’s a fine conspiracy theory, yes, but consider the following:
• Name one CDMA BlackBerry with built-in Wi-Fi. You can’t.
• Doesn’t VZW require you to have a BlackBerry data plan? So it’s not like having built-in Wi-Fi prevents VZW from making money
Now, whether or not VZW was concerned with battery life and/or performance is another matter, but to imply that VZW is some James Bond villain hoarding all the Wi-Fi is silly, I think.
Our amigos at Gizmodo have a hands-on with a Verizon Wireless-branded BlackBerry Storm, and it’s gotta be in the top 100 most interesting things you’ll see all day.
To be fair, the phone at least looks halfway decent.
Giz’s Buchanan notes a feature that will no doubt annoy several would-be Storm owners. Unlike how on the iPhone you can sorta “glide” from letter to letter while typing, the Storm makes you “confirm” that you’ve touched a character.
Yes, the screen is a giant button, one you have to punch for basically every action, even every letter you type, completely breaking the touchscreen paradigm.
So again, the phone doesn’t sound halfway bad, but you really do wonder if the Storm is too little, too late for RIM. Lord knows Verizon Wireless hopes it’s not.
The ninja was right. Why RIM felt the need to go out and make an iPhone competitor is beyond me.
via CrackBerry
CrackBerry Forum user BBerry. got a little playtime with a Storm dummy tonight at VZW store and here’s what he had to say about it:
I was at the verizon store and me and my dad were talking about upcoming phones and we were talking about the touch diamond & when the verizon guy shows us this thunder dummy he had laying around so i got to mess with it and boy is it heavyy, but the back steel part feels nice and cold on your hands :] well here are some shots of the phones. Oh and that push button screen thingy yeah its not as hard actually its pretty easy to press.
Uh oh, the Brew Ninja doesn’t like RIM’s BlackBerry Storm. Skip ahead to the 2:50 mark. Good thing Verizon is getting this device.
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