“It seemed like a neat idea when Research in Motion announced it in October: the first smartphone with a clickable touchscreen. I even enjoyed the few minutes I spent playing with a prerelease version of the BlackBerry Storm, which goes on sale Nov. 21 for $200,” Anita Hamilton reports for TIME Magazine. “But after 24 hours of actually testing the new BlackBerry side by side with its main competition — Apple’s iPhone 3G and T-Mobile’s G1 (the ‘Google phone’) — the novelty quickly wore off.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPhone has no real competition. There is iPhone and then a slew of iPhone lookalikes-not-workalikes.
Hamilton continues, “I hate the click screen, and none of the handful of people I let try it had anything nice to say about it either… The trouble with having to push down on the entire 3.2-inch screen every time you type a letter or confirm a menu choice is that it slows you down… What’s more, the screen jiggles in the phone’s casing when you press on it, which makes it feel cheap.”
Hamilton reports, “If, like many Americans, you’re planning to scrimp your way through the holidays, the Storm isn’t worth busting your budget for… This is one storm you’ll want to steer clear of this winter.”
Full review here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MacVicta” for the heads up.]
Good for them. I hope everyone will realise the iPhone’s overall supremacy.
Sort of like a clicky trackpad, isn’t it?
wow, are there ANY good reviews of this thing?
Why not spend the $200 on the real thing?
Stool Storm
Not that you’re going to read here. Yes, there are any number of good reviews, but MDN is obsessed.
Then post a few links Erk.
“It seemed like a neat idea when Research in Motion announced it in October: the first smartphone with a clickable touchscreen.”
It did? To who?
Anyone posting a good review of the Storm will be looked on very suspiciously after today’s pronouncements…
And the MacWorld gives it 4 out of 5 mice WTF!
It’s already forming a low pressure (to buy) zone.
I read a tepid review of the Storm on msnbc.com, but even the old bat who wrote the review wasn’t exactly raving about it. The Fortune magazine Mac writer printed out positive and negative review points for it, andnmy conclusion is that RIM doesn’t. Deliver the goods. Ofbinterest were the reader comments. On one side are some people who actually tested one – they HATED it. The other comments came from the usual corporate PC/IT Nazis. Almost to an individual, they said that the iPhone is a consumer toy, and that the Blackberry is more secure. To that I say, bollocks. I have been testing an iPhone with Exchange and now prefer the iPhone much more for email and calendaring. The iPhone is simply better. But to am IT Nazi, WiFi is evil. Also, readers hatedball the overhead Verizon dumpsninto the new Blackberry.
Written on my iPhone.
Jiggly boobs – Great!
Jiggly screen – Yuck!
Jiggly man boobs & jiggly screen – run away! run away!
Overall, the Storm is a very capable handheld computer that will appeal to BlackBerry users who have been pining for a touch-controlled device with a larger screen. And it offers yet another good option for anyone who is looking to buy one of the new, more powerful, pocket computers.
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20081119/blackberrys-storm-presses-into-the-touch-phone-fray/
The Storm isn’t just some wanna-be, rip-off iPhone. At its core, it’s just like every other BlackBerry. This will be important for business clients — many companies’ IT systems will only work with RIM’s Enterprise Server for e-mail on the go. It’s also important for BlackBerry lovers. If you’ve used a BlackBerry before, you’ll get the Storm’s menus, symbols and buttons immediately.
Instead of comparing the Storm to the iPhone and whining grumpilly about the Storm’s lack of multi-touch, consumers will compare it to other BlackBerries. And when they do, they may find that they like what they see: A big, fun to use touchscreen, a 3.2MP camera that takes video and has a bright flash, a respectable Web browser and a typing system that really works.
http://dvice.com/archives/2008/11/blackberry_storm_review.php
If that sounds like a lot of utility you are not mistaken, the Storm is a veritable online workhorse out of the box. All of the familiar Blackberry programs are there and the inclusion of the three Dataviz programs means you can not only open Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint files but you can also edit them on the Storm. This turns the Storm into the type of enterprise-ready phone that you expect from a Blackberry, even though the Storm is clearly also aimed at the consumer market. You can almost leave the laptop at home on short trips with the Storm in your pocket.
The Storm is a global communications solution similar to the 8830 on Verizon. There is a SIM card included that will work outside the US where CDMA networks are not available. Business travelers can thus use the Storm almost anywhere in the world with optional voice and data plans from Verizon.
http://www.jkontherun.com/2008/11/jkontherun-revi.html
Is it time to play taps yet? Poor RIM or should I say RIP.