Blackberry Storm closes in on the iPhone, but still a long ways to go
The release of the Blackberry Storm is Research in Motion’s entry into the touchscreen phone market. It is also considered by many to be Verizon’s answer to the insanely popular iPhone. The Storm comes extremely close to meeting the iPhone feature-wise but some nagging issues may prevent it from overtaking it completely.
I’ve had the opportunity to play around with the Blackberry Storm to get a feel for the device. My previous Blackberry device was the 8330 Curve which was a fantastic device. The Storm definitely one-ups the Curve with improved features that makes it much more accessible to the casual consumer.
The 3G capability makes browsing on the Web a breeze. It almost feels like I am surfing on the Internet from the wireless connection at home. The only downside is that there is no Wi-Fi capability built into the Storm. However, the 3G definitely makes up for the lack of Wi-Fi.
From a multimedia and ease-of-use standpoint, the Storm almost goes toe-to-toe with the iPhone. Similarly to the iPhone, the Storm has the capability to run apps, play music and video. However, the unique clicking touchscreen does take some time to getting used to.
The touchscreen can detect light touching movements like the iPhone, but the Storm also requires you to press into the screen to execute a command. This behavior is similar to how one would use the mouse to browse around and click to execute on a computer.
The biggest complaint about the Storm is the QWERTY keyboard on the touchscreen. It has a steep learning curve as users will have to learn to type ‘differently.’ Typing on the touchscreen does make it more error prone than typing on the button keyboard when banging out a lengthy email. The Storm’s touchscreen also has difficultly interpreting angles properly. Users should not use their thumbs beyond the third column of keys from each side.
Without question RIM’s email push technology is legendary compared to what’s out on the market. For those wanting email reliability along with the functionality of the iPhone, the Blackberry Storm is the answer. However, for those wanting just a multimedia and Web browsing device, the iPhone is still the king.
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May 10th, 2009
Was there a point here? Nothing said in this article that hasn’t been widely said all over the net for near 6 months. Is Blorge so desperate they find a need to pay people to write this sort of “no content” article? I mean seriously, if this has offered some sort of real comparison of the two touch screen keyboards that might have been interesting, but to say not to use thumbs beyond the third column in from the edge and not discuss the iPhone horrid keyboard is just ignorant. Really, what are we supposed to use on those middle four columns, our nose? Makes you winter if this article was written by someone that’s even ever held a Storm or typed with it (as I am doing now) beyond a few minutes in a wireless store?
May 11th, 2009
@DavidB,
If you weren’t able to read between the lines, I meant the three columns of core keys in the middle. If you want to get picky then technically there are five, not four columns of keys from each side.
This isn’t a comparison story but an impression piece. My company upgraded my Curve to the Storm recently and I have been using it quite extensively recently.
My verdict is that any touchscreen keyboard is horrid whether its on the iPhone or Storm. My favorite is still the full QWERTY layout on the Curve.
I was able to bang out a lengthy email on that thing, but I have to pace myself a good deal on the Storm.
May 12th, 2009
Mike
still undecided.
however, please remove html garbage from the post. for a tech blog, this is elementary ;)
Raz