RIM’s Blackberry Storm, For Verizon Wireless, Cell Phone Review
The 1st Blackberry came onto the scene in 1999, ushering in a new age in electronic combo devices. The Blackberry (before Blackberry Phones was originaly intended as a complicated pager. But its local messaging system was so effective that it quickly earned a cult following of such magnitude that Webster’s New World School Compendium recognized “crackberry” as the “New Word of the Year”. RIM’s newest release of the BlackBerry Storm, is trying to un-king the mighty iPhone, which appears to have a lock on being the #1 selling mobile phone. The Storm’s partner on this is Verizon, as it is being offered as part of Verizon Phones, who is still reeling from its mistake of turning down Steve Jobs’ iPhone (Verizon as a carrier). If Verizon is attempting to make amends for missing the iPhone, it’s at least heading in the correct direction. The Storm has a wide screen, touchscreen interface that offers lots of the same features as the iPhone, but with some boosted enhancements on the touch screen display. The results of these improvements are mixed. Unlike with a proper keyboard, onscreen keys are not able to keep up with fast typing. Classic Blackberry “thumbing” addicts may not be in a position to rattle off messages with equal speed or accuracy.
The clickthrough interface needs a good bit of practice if you want to become accustomed to pushing the touch-sensitive screen down until there’s a click, in complete contrast to the seamless interactivity offered by the iPhone.
Likewise, since your finger is on it, the blue highlight that displays to ratify that a given button is active is tough to see.
So Whether it’ll go down in the books as a design fluke or an all out fumble, is yet to be shown. Last and maybe least of all, this Blackberry also doesn’t have the predictive spelling aid functions that the iPhone does. If you are a lazy speller, the Blackberry doesn’t offer you much of a safety net. The browser renders HTML quickly and thoroughly, utilizing context-sensitive page-dragging features that enable you to navigate any given webpage. The sole gripe here is that form fields are a little troublesome to fill out. Though the browser earned high praise, the absence of Wi-Fi on the telephone is quite the mystery. While Verizon’s EV-DO coverage is wonderful, there are many circumstances under which Wi-Fi would have been very useful. As for the heavy, commercial design, Blackberry will be given a thumbs-up.
The payoff for leaving the tactile key board and trademark trackball behind is a faster, flatter, 3.25 in. awesome glass face. 4 familiar Blackberry keys lie at the base of the telephone, they are: Telephone , Menu, Back, and End / Power. The cellular device also comes provided with a mini USB key and 3.5mm headset jack. One possible drawback of the design concerns whether metal construction is superior to plastic. The phone is coupled with the even more wonderful Verizon (for cellular service coverage) that ought to keep the Storm well positioned in the race for cell phone king.