Blackberry Storm? Anyone seriously considering it???

[macbookairapple]

The phones they are testing have an older OS on them, much like the iPhone had...

It will be a fantastic phone. Two different fruits though. The iphone is for media, the BB is for communications.

End of story.

So I guess RIM is going to have an entire different OS ready by tomorrow right?

Instead of making a completely different OS meant for touch, they took the old blackberry OS and slapped it on a touchscreen, which is what the reviews are saying, just like HTC does with Windows Mobile.

 

[bigmouth]

It's far more likely to simply be a RIM design choice, just as Apple decided to not go with 3G for their first model.

Wrong. From the Boy Genius review:

You can bet your ass on one thing though, if AT&T gets a version of the Storm, Storm 2, Storm 7, or what have you, it will certainly have Wi-Fi. It’s been confirmed to us by sources at RIM that what we said about Wi-Fi was absolutely correct: it’s not that there wasn’t room on the circuit board for the Wi-Fi chip, it’s that the carriers completely requested it to be not included.

 

[redgaz26]

with all these touchscreen phones coming out it makes me wonder what the hell steve was talking about when he first introduced the iphone and said they had over 200 patents for it??

 

[citi]

I was mildly interested in checking out the Storm but the reviews keep coming in and they are fairly middling. PC Magazine's called it a "Troubled Storm" (3/5) and CNET gave it a 3.5/5...Gizmodo, Engadget, and BGR all have similar conclusions too. Oh well.

I posted this on another post but the same applies here:

I can't believe you buy into their opinions as "fact". On October 8th Engadget had a review saying just how great the click screen was. You can't trust the media. I believe this is Iphone 1.0.

They compare the fact that they don't have an Appstore, when everyone knows they have thousand of blackberry apps already out there. People have short memories, Apple wouldn't even let you install 3rd party applications until 2.0

Click Type sucks? Well give it more than a day and then give your opinion. I hated typing on my touch until I realized HOW Apple implemented it. Having said that, I still have issues when I increase my speed, so even that's not perfect. Not even close.

Accelerometer? Please my touch would rotate just as slow sometimes begging the question, is it broken? I can't tell you how many times I've had to do the mash potato dance to get it to realize that I have moved.

Touch follows you as you move your finger on the nav screen? Do you really need it to? I never run my fingers over my touch. I see the app I want to start and I touch it.

If they didn't compare it to the iphone, which I understand why they did, how good would the phone be?

 

[Santa Rosa]

Even though the iPhone to me is a mixture of pure brilliance with a good shot of cripple added I seriously cant see myself changing it for many reasons:

Mobile Safari
iTunes integration
No need to pay Blackberry server fees
Best capacitive and only true multitouch screen
App Store - Apple have hit something big here
Reasonably regular software updates
Google Maps
16GB built in storage
Wifi
Hardware accelerated graphics
Headphone jack on the top so you can put the phone in your pocket (storm is on the side)
iPod
Quicktime
Youtube
iTunes Store in your pocket
Sleek looks
Ear recognition on call
Accelerometer
No flashing LED's
Very consistent user interface

Open to correction on some of those points though as I dont know everything about the storm!!

 

[Tenorsaw]

Even though the iPhone to me is a mixture of pure brilliance with a good shot of cripple added I seriously cant see myself changing it for many reasons:

Mobile Safari
iTunes integration
No need to pay Blackberry server fees
Best capacitive and only true multitouch screen
App Store - Apple have hit something big here
Reasonably regular software updates
Google Maps
16GB built in storage
Wifi
Hardware accelerated graphics
Headphone jack on the top so you can put the phone in your pocket (storm is on the side)
iPod
Quicktime
Youtube
iTunes Store in your pocket
Sleek looks
Ear recognition on call
Accelerometer
No flashing LED's
Very consistent user interface

Open to correction on some of those points though as I dont know everything about the storm!!

Good post. If it was only one bad review I could understand, but when the general consensus is bad it makes you think twice. Like I said, Verizon customers will still gobble this up, but you won't find many people leaving other carriers to get this.

 

[citi]

Open to correction on some of those points though as I dont know everything about the storm!!

Mobile Safari - agreed Nothing competes
iTunes integration True but Blackberry comes with Roxio that allows syncing of your media. It's PC only, on Mac you have to buy Missing Sync
No need to pay Blackberry server fees you don't need to pay fees, they have pop and imap out of the box, but come on, what do you think mobile me is?
Best capacitive and only true multitouch screen agreed
App Store - Apple have hit something big here there are thousands of apps available for blackberry, they just never had an integrated app on the unit
Reasonably regular software updates define reasonable, and software updates that actually tackle user complaints
Google Maps storm has it too
16GB built in storage 16gb locked non upgradeable. I think the Storm wins on that
Wifi agreed
Hardware accelerated graphics agreed
Headphone jack on the top so you can put the phone in your pocket (storm is on the side) debatable
iPod they both play media
Quicktime they both do
Youtube they both do
iTunes Store in your pocket agreed but rhapsody is coming, don't know if that's a good thing
Sleek looks agreed
Ear recognition on call
Accelerometer they both do
No flashing LED's debatable if good or bad
Very consistent user interface agreed

 

[kdarling]

Even though the iPhone to me is a mixture of pure brilliance with a good shot of cripple added I seriously cant see myself changing it for many reasons:

Blackberry server fees: not unless you need access to those features, including true push. And if you do, it's not much more than the monthly MobileMe equivalent cost.

Lots of software updates: Apple needs to pump those out, since the iPhone OS is pretty new and unfinished.

Google Maps / YouTube / etc: nice in a list, but not unique at all

Builtin storage: personal taste. Some prefer being able to instantly swap memory and/or upgrade the amount. (ditto battery)

Hardware accelerated graphics: darn near every phone has this. For instance, OpenGL benchmarks show the Motorola RIZR Z8 and the Nokia N95 equal to, or better, than the iPhone.

 

[ajohnson253]

technical guy at verizon had the storm and was testing it out. I played with it for a while.
I'm just gonna say, I'll stick with my iPhone.

 

[iMetalG5]

technical guy at verizon had the storm and was testing it out. I played with it for a while.
I'm just gonna say, I'll stick with my iPhone.

yeah this afternoon i went with a coworker to the vzw store near our work and they already have them out. well not out for sale but one sales guy was playing with it. When asked "Can I check that out?" he promptly said, "NO, and you did not see the Storm today..." dumb arse!

 

[Santa Rosa]

Thanks for the tidy up of my list everyone!! Very much agree with all of your points. There is one thing I would bring up though, its the fact that it can do these things, but is that out of the box?

From a general non tech view people are going to use it as is so thats maybe something else to take into account.

Been looking at the highlights of the reviews that have just been posted, overall feeling is its an ok phone but some worrying comments:

"It's 5% thicker and 17% heavier than the iPhone."
"Some interface tasks, such as photo rotation and panning and zooming in the web browser, are slow."
"an OS that moves like a tranquilized yak"
"Storm's touch interface feels like a failed experiment"
"navigation in general lags"
"Odd placement on on-screen buttons often leads to an improper selection"
"we felt let down or frustrated"

Obviously maybe some of these things can be rectified, but I dont know what Blackberry are like with thier OS updates. Is it going to be like most phones and never have an update or an easy update once it has left the factory?

 

[aristobrat]

And are the reviews correct that you have to pay extra (per month) to get Visual Voicemail on the Storm?

App Store - Apple have hit something big here there are thousands of apps available for blackberry, they just never had an integrated app on the unit

And without an integrated app on the unit, there might as well NOT be "thousands of apps available for the blackberry" since 99% of BlackBerry owners have no clue that they even exist. How did you count that there were thousands?

Reasonably regular software updates define reasonable, and software updates that actually tackle user complaints

Reasonable = a carrier can't delay the availability of a software update for months, or simply chose not to release it. (i.e. not having to go to BlackBerryForums.com and finding out how to install onto your Verizon device an update from an Australian carrier because Verizon didn't approve it because it enabled certain features) Reasonable = being able to apply an update and not having a completely erased device afterwords that requires a full restore.

 

[Santa Rosa]

iTunes integration
True but Blackberry comes with Roxio that allows syncing of your media. It's PC only, on Mac you have to buy Missing Sync

Its pretty lame you have to buy your sync software no?

No need to pay Blackberry server fees
you don't need to pay fees, they have pop and imap out of the box, but come on, what do you think mobile me is?

I was told when enquiring about it that I would have to pay them to get the handset, I have also recently set up mail on a blackberry and it was horrible.

App Store - Apple have hit something big here
there are thousands of apps available for blackberry, they just never had an integrated app on the unit

No good app distribution, whats the point in having them as already stated by earlier post

16GB built in storage
16gb locked non upgradeable. I think the Storm wins on that

Not necessarily, important point, I believe they both have remote wipe. If you have sensitive files on both the iPhone and Blackberry, if the Blackberry is stolen the removable storage can be taken out quickly and easily for examination, with the iPhone it is very very very difficult to impossible to remove and examine and will more than definitely be wiped, unlike the blackberry once the removable storage is out of the device it cannot be wiped. Hence shows the iPhone is actually better.

Headphone jack on the top so you can put the phone in your pocket (storm is on the side)
debatable

Try it

iPod
they both play media

Blackberry media player isnt very good

iTunes Store in your pocket
agreed but rhapsody is coming, don't know if that's a good thing

Exactly

Ear recognition on call <<-iPhone turns off the screen at your ear, not sure if storm does it

 

[citi]

And are the reviews correct that you have to pay extra (per month) to get Visual Voicemail on the Storm?


And without an integrated app on the unit, there might as well NOT be "thousands of apps available for the blackberry" since 99% of BlackBerry owners have no clue that they even exist. How did you count that there were thousands?


Reasonable = a carrier can't delay the availability of a software update for months, or simply chose not to release it. (i.e. not having to go to BlackBerryForums.com and finding out how to install onto your Verizon device an update from an Australian carrier because Verizon didn't approve it because it enabled certain features) Reasonable = being able to apply an update and not having a completely erased device afterwords that requires a full restore.

Yeah, thousand is overstated, but there is a considerable amount. I used to use WinMo and it took all of 2 minutes to discover Handango, or pocketgear.com. Not to mention, app information sits right on the blackberry site, which IMO would be the first place you would go.

Sure, it's great that Apple works on updates, but lets be honest here, there updates have not always installed correctly, wiped data, bricked phones (none of mine btw) and still have not fixed complaints that people have said since 1.0. Cut and Paste, landscape typing? Let's wait and see if Blackberry and VERIZON improves on their updates before we throw them under the bus.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

with all these touchscreen phones coming out it makes me wonder what the hell steve was talking about when he first introduced the iphone and said they had over 200 patents for it??

to my knowledge nobody has infringement on the iPhone's copyrights. what other phones have true multi touch, automatic spellcheck ect.

 

[citi]

iTunes integration
True but Blackberry comes with Roxio that allows syncing of your media. It's PC only, on Mac you have to buy Missing Sync
Its pretty lame you have to buy your sync software no?
**Well they have pocketmac that is free, but I prefer Missing Sync

No need to pay Blackberry server fees
you don't need to pay fees, they have pop and imap out of the box, but come on, what do you think mobile me is?
I was told when enquiring about it that I would have to pay them to get the handset, I have also recently set up mail on a blackberry and it was horrible.
**They were misinformed, you don't have to set it up through Blackberry

App Store - Apple have hit something big here
there are thousands of apps available for blackberry, they just never had an integrated app on the unit
No good app distribution, whats the point in having them as already stated by earlier post **http://www.handango.com/homepage/Homepage.jsp?storeId=2218&_requestid=9723 Sure it's not on the phone, but they are all in one place

16GB built in storage
16gb locked non upgradeable. I think the Storm wins on that
Not necessarily, important point, I believe they both have remote wipe. If you have sensitive files on both the iPhone and Blackberry, if the Blackberry is stolen the removable storage can be taken out quickly and easily for examination, with the iPhone it is very very very difficult to impossible to remove and examine and will more than definitely be wiped, unlike the blackberry once the removable storage is out of the device it cannot be wiped. Hence shows the iPhone is actually better.

Headphone jack on the top so you can put the phone in your pocket (storm is on the side)
debatable
Try it **true, but some people where it in a holster sideways. Seems better suited for that.

iPod
they both play media
Blackberry media player isnt very good
**as long as it plays the files I'm okay with that. PLUS STEREO BLUETOOTH

iTunes Store in your pocket
agreed but rhapsody is coming, don't know if that's a good thing Exactly

Ear recognition on call <<-iPhone turns off the screen at your ear, not sure if storm does it . **Not sure about the auto screen shutoff...but Blackberry has two mics - one on the front, one on the back just for noise cancellation, I know Iphone can't do that.

 

[kdarling]

Yeah, thousand is overstated, but there is a considerable amount. I used to use WinMo and it took all of 2 minutes to discover Handango, or pocketgear.com.

It is amazing that people need their hands held so much. That's like saying "oh i bought a computer but don't know where to get apps". A one second search yields:

App list on RIM's website

 

[citi]

to my knowledge nobody has infringement on the iPhone's copyrights. what other phones have true multi touch, automatic spellcheck ect.

They didn't invent automatic spellcheck

 

[kdarling]

to my knowledge nobody has infringement on the iPhone's copyrights. what other phones have true multi touch, automatic spellcheck ect.

Jobs likes to have fun with his more naive fans. For one thing, he was talking partly about patent applications, not copyrights or granted patents. The patents they're likely to get, are very specific to their device, and easy to get around.

Spell check or autosuggest? Plenty of other devices.

Multi-touch is about twenty years old. And yep, other current devices could support it if their OS did as well: Android G-1 and Diamond Touch screens apparently secretly support multitouch. Or just search on "multitouch phone" and you'll find a few others.

 

[aristobrat]

It is amazing that people need their hands held so much. That's like saying "oh i bought a computer but don't know where to get apps". A one second search yields:

App list on RIM's website

Nice, you found a page that lists 67 applications. Where are the hundreds (thousands) of others?

 

[Santa Rosa]

16GB built in storage
16gb locked non upgradeable. I think the Storm wins on that

Not necessarily, important point, I believe they both have remote wipe. If you have sensitive files on both the iPhone and Blackberry, if the Blackberry is stolen the removable storage can be taken out quickly and easily for examination, with the iPhone it is very very very difficult to impossible to remove and examine and will more than definitely be wiped, unlike the blackberry once the removable storage is out of the device it cannot be wiped. Hence shows the iPhone is actually better.

You never picked up on that citi. Interested what you think.

It is amazing that people need their hands held so much. That's like saying "oh i bought a computer but don't know where to get apps". A one second search yields:

App list on RIM's website

Thats a fair comment to someone who is relatively tech literate, the majority of people arent, thats where the iPhone trounces the Blackberry. It makes that sort of functionality accessible to bobby basic the technophobe.

 

[efice32]

This is a battle between blackberry fanboys who like touchscreens and apple fanboys.....it's a pointless argument.

Some will like the iPhone better, some will like the Storm better. They both have their flaws, it's just about which flaws you're willing to live with.

 

[aristobrat]

This is a battle between blackberry fanboys who like touchscreens and apple fanboys.....it's a pointless argument.

I have both an iPhone and a BB and like both (they each have their strengths). I'm just disappointed that the Storm doesn't appear to take what it took from the iPhone and have become a better BlackBerry because of it.

 

[citi]

Nice, you found a page that lists 67 applications. Where are the hundreds (thousands) of others?

I already answered that it was overstated, but if I recall, Iphone 1.0 had no apps at all. BTW - All the apps in the appstore are not quality. There are a lot of redundant, trival, god awfull apps in the appstore. The bad apps for blackberry, and winmo, die fast on Handango because people are allowed to DEMO them and if they suck don't get bought and the apps goes away. Interesting concept about demoing huh? Just like apple, give developers time to work on fullscreen apps.

 

[aristobrat]

I already answered that it was overstated, but if I recall, Iphone 1.0 had no apps at all. BTW - All the apps in the appstore are not quality. There are a lot of redundant, trival, god awfull apps in the appstore. The bad apps for blackberry, and winmo, die fast on Handango because people are allowed to DEMO them and if they suck don't get bought and the apps goes away. Interesting concept about demoing huh? Just like apple, give developers time to work on fullscreen apps.

iPhone 1.0 had webapps (and a lot of them).

What mobile platform have you used where you could say "all apps are quality"?

I agree that the AppStore would be better if all applications had demos. Interesting tactics some of the developers are coming up with, actually releasing free demo versions themselves. Or releasing the full application for free for an amount of time in order to get a lot of reviews for it before making it a pay application again.

Again, I was just hoping that RIM would bring something new to the table. Up the ante (or however that's spelled). Give Apple some competition in the AppStore department to get them inspired to come out with something new for the iPhone/touch.