“With the BlackBerry Storm, Research in Motion Ltd.’s first-ever, touch-screen device, set to hit stores on Friday, Nov. 21, there are bound to be a lot of comparisons with the Apple iPhone as the two touch-screen titans battle it out for smartphone dominance. Both handsets carry the same price: About $200 with a two-year contract. And each operates on its respective carriers’ high-speed 3G network — the Storm on Verizon Wireless and the iPhone on AT&T,” Andrew R Hickey writes for CRN.
MacDailyNews Take: Since when is RIM is a “touch-screen titan?”
“But when it comes right down to it, the BlackBerry Storm will be the superior mobile device and represents a true iPhone killer,” Hickey bloviates; presumably with a straight face.
Hickey gives five so-called reasons why the BlackBerry Storm is “a true iPhone killer:”
1. It has a better camera.
MacDailyNews Take: Yawn. If you care anything at all about photography, you use a real camera, not a phone. For quick shots, iPhone is fine and is in no danger of being “killed” off by phones with marginally or even markedly better cameras. Strike one.
2. BlackBerry set the gold standard for corporate e-mail.
MacDailyNews Take: Puleeze. iPhone can and does send corporate email all day long. Yes, even with Exchange support. This is not a reason why iPhone will be “killed.” Strike two.
3. BlackBerry offers easy access to view and edit corporate documents.
MacDailyNews Take: Another yawn. As Hickey himself admits, iPhone offers document viewing out of the box and there are very inexpensive downloads available that will enable editing of docs. iPhone murder charge averted for RIM and strike three for Hickey.
4. The Storm’s touch screen is “clickable.”
MacDailyNews Take: Big whoop. Minor “feature” that, again, simply does not have the capacity to “kill” iPhone. Strike four.
5. BlackBerry is launching its own take on the App Store.
MacDailyNews Take: LOL. We can give you several thousand reasons (apps) along with several hundred million reasons (app downloads) why this is strike five for Hickey (and he was “out” after three).
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Patrick T” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Our headline explains clearly why RIM’s BlackBerry Storm is not an “iPhone killer” any more than umpteen thousands of now-defunct “iPod killers” were before it.
Apple leads. The also-rans follow. Without the iPhone the BlackBerry Storm (and numerous other fake iPhones from other vendors) simply would not exist.
For a measly seven bucks, you can buy Avatron’s Air Sharing app for the iPhone, and view PDFs, iWork docs, Office docs, text files, HTML, source code, images, audio, movies,… Seven bucks. Air Sharing blows away anything on the Blackberry.
CRN? What is that? Never heard of them. After reading part of this person’s “article” I can see why I don’t know of them…..
Can you play Super Monkey Ball on it using the accelerometer? Spreadsheets, pshaw. And does it blend? If anything, I see this as more like a small rain shower than a Storm.
The “two touch-screen Titans????” What a crock. There is only one touch-screen Titan, and everything else is just a wanna-be, so far.
At least it’s not on a crap network.
And it’s secure.
Good enough for me.
hahaha….CRN, they’re one of our clients.
Anyway, yeah, their articles are bullsh*t. The Storm won’t do anything. At all.
MDN must be getting nervous that the Storm might actually deliver a good experience if they feel so compelled to have to trash it over and over again. Why don’t we wait until the device gets in the hands of users and then decide?
It’s ok to have choices and it’s ok if some opinions aren’t always 100% pro-apple. I guess opinions are still like assholes – everyone has one and they all stink – including MDN’s…
Crazylegs,
This is just our third article, total, on RIM’s BlackBerry Storm and it only exists because some nimrod at CRN insisted on calling it an “iPhone killer.”
Crazylegs,
Including yours.
“JD – your opinion doesn’t count here. This is a pro-apple site. If you aren’t going to write something that is 150% pro-apple then get the hell out of here you jerk.”
…a friendly message from MDN…
johnlee – yup! mine is especially stinky!
Flame on fanboys… sad you guys can’t stomach to give props to anyone other than Apple. If it’s not Apple, it sucks is all you ever hear from u fanboys.
How can you so quickly dismiss some rather obvious statements like, the camera is superior, blackberry is still the gold standard for corporate email, and it has a clickable screen providing an extra dimension for navigation? These are not at all debatable points, they are facts. I think it’s interesting you chose to leave out the author’s comment on cut and paste (again, not debatable).
Look, the Storm has some cool features that are definitely superior to the iphone. Likewise, the iphone has some cool features (none as obvious as the killer OS) that are clearly superior to the Storm.
Would you not praise Apple if they gave you a better camera, cut and paste, zero MobileME issues, a clickable screen, and a higher resolution? Would these features not improve the iphone? Ignoring the truth and acting like your poo don’t stink just makes you look stupid.
The iphone is a killer phone, no doubt. There will never be an “iphone killer” because Apple loyalty is legit. Will apple dominate the cell biz like they did with the mp3 players, I doubt it, but I love the competition.
So, bring on the flames…
MDN – that is total BS. this site has been trashing BBs for months. come on, at least admit how biased you are. that’s all i want, for you to recognize an inherent bias and let it be known that MDN loves him some Apple and hates him some anything else. that is fine as long as you know it.
and the Storm won’t kill the iPhone, that is insane. but it still can sell very well, be an excellent device, and provide value to end users. at least admit that much as well.
“MDN must be getting nervous that the Storm might actually deliver a good experience if they feel so compelled to have to trash it over and over again.”
LOL, right. I guess MDN is getting nervous about Motorola and Palm, too.
“4. The Storm’s touch screen is “clickable.”
When I read that the Storm had a clickable screen, one thought entered my mind.
If you are firmly pushing on the screen all of the time to make it click, how will this affect the touch screen long term?
Will Rim be replacing every Storm in 6 months time because the touch screens have dozens of dead pixels?
Does anyone here know?
@divetitot and others of simialr mind–
Notice the underlying assumption in the article? iPhone is the best. It’s not about flame-bait, it’s that this guy, like so many others did with the iPod and have thankfully quit trying to do, it seems– is elevate other products to try to tear down Apple’s product. They’re alway thin arguments though and the “killer” new product has a way of just fading away. Until the next. And the next.
MDN is right. The article’s arguments are thin, at best. Of course iPhone isn’t perfect. It isn’t the most feature-filled. It isn’t the lightest, the camera-i-est, the blah blah blah. It’s the best overall consumer-driven phone that has a great deal of untapped potential. And that’s really it– this platform has only begun to take off. iPhone is not just a phone, but a new paradigm. Just watch and see if that’s not true over time.
The Blackberry Storm or Blackberry Anything will not be credited in the history books for… well… anything. They’re playing catch-up to Apple. To RIM’s credit, they don’t seem to trip over their own feet as M$ does. So yes, bring on the competition!
As a 3G owner, I agree, the iPhone does need a better camera.
Everything else mentioned is a joke.
MDN, as a current iPhone user, what the Apps you speak of that allow editing of documents on the iPhone? This would be very useful.
2 Terms of Bush has left you guys in a real mess and you say that you can’t wait for 2010 – what for the chance to vote for the Repblicans …. again?
@ Rob – Google docs I think.
Nice call crazylegs. The MDN response borders on…FUD.
The “Storm” is still vaporware, folks! GET IT? VAPORWARE? It doesn’t exist in the wild yet. GET IT? When it does, we’ll talk about how GOOD it is, or how BAD it is, or how MEDIOCRE it is, or . . . . . .
GET IT? IT’S STILL VAPORWARE! Everything about it is bullshit until it falls into the hands of real people. Not reviewers. Not analysts. Not RIM-JOB FANBOYS. Real people.
We’ll see THEN how well it fares. Until then it’s still . . . VAPORWARE! Nuff said.
(And please leave your ordure-filled political observations in your rectum where it belongs, OK, winmacguy. Nobody, I repeat NOBODY, gives a shit what you think about this or any other administration.)
Apple builds the best phone/Internet device on the market last year and you expect by now the competition would be bringing the big guns to tackle the iPhone. But instead, the competition is sending in one retard after another. Is Apple the only company that can innovate?
@crazylegs et al. You are and idiot. By you logic my opinion on a peecee or microshaft news site would carry more weight because I am not a pc/ms fan boy? That is a seriously flawed piece of thinking! Also, do you always lurk on websites concerning tho be you clearly disdain?
Dude.
Decaf.
It’s just a phone.