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Hands-On Look At the BlackBerry Storm 2
Barence writes "PC Pro has had time to play with the new BlackBerry Storm 2, and came away impressed. The new touch system garners the most praise, doing away with the mechanical click screen of the original Storm — the new screen gives a kind of localised haptic feedback which 'feels just like clicking a button.' The phone, announced today, also includes Wi-Fi, BlackBerry OS 5, and increased storage, so it's looking an enticing prospect. After the disappointment of the Palm Pre, could this be the smartphone to beat?"
It hardly seems like a disappointment based on the amount and tone of coverage I've seen of the Pre. I haven't seen much about the Pre in a business environment (read: syncing to Exchange etc) but it seems great otherwise.
After the disappointment of the Palm Pre, could this be the smartphone to beat?"
Um, yeah, let's not mention the elephant in the room, shall we?
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
If there was more direct data in/out to the device, versus "securely" routing everything through RIM. That model seems like it makes sense in a 1999 way, but now it just makes it awkward to use them outside of a BES environment.
The iPhone may be a closed platform, but at least data I/O isn't forced through Apple's servers.
I was under the impression that the problem most users have with touchscreens isn't feedback after clicking, but before. I can touch-type on my blackberry, which lets me go a lot faster than on smooth touchscreens because I can tell my finger is on the right button by feel.
To quote MonkeyBoy, err, Steve Ballmer...
This is why the iPhone has become so entrenched, it has the developers. Its not just a matter of building hardware that matches Apple, you now have to build an ecology to match Apple.
Which is very hard: . Look at the MP3 player market. People have made plenty of players better than the iPod-of-the-time, but Apple has the ecology annd is now hard to displace.
Test your net with Netalyzr
I'm never buying another Blackberry.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again.
From my cold dead hands! I love my Storm 1.
Oh, and might I add: You damn, dirty apes!
To me, the only disappointment in the Palm Pre is SPRINT!
Logic is the beginning of reason, not the end of it.
... I know exactly what you're talking about! After buying my Pre, I found that:
- I didn't immediately lose weight
- I still had to wear glasses
- the damage to my hearing (after 20 years of listening to good music) wasn't repaired
- my credit limit wasn't raised, and my day-to-day living expenses weren't reduced
Sure, overall it's a great phone, as far as portable phones that store important information, take pictures, play music and access the internet go, but those four points stick in my craw. Fail!
Eviscerati.Org: All Hail the Eviscerati
... they need to release it on a more relevant network. Just because Verizon claims to have the most subscribers in the US doesn't mean its a relevant market for blackberry phones. In particular the fact that Verizon is still clinging to old network technology makes it a bit of a burden for phone deployment in corporate environments. GSM networks are head and shoulders above the Verizon network in speed of phone deployment.
If an employee drops their phone and needs to replace it ASAP, someone in the company can pull the SIM card, put it into a new phone, and the employee is back to work with minimal downtime - unless you're on a non-GSM carrier in which case you need to have the magic store deactivate the old phone, sell you a new phone, activate it, etc...
If RIM doesn't realize that their terrible choice of carrier (on an exclusive deal no less) was a big part of the lack of success in the first generation storm, then they need to have their heads examined. Release the new phone on a modern GSM network and we'll see how it really fares.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
As a former Storm owner I think RIM has gone a long way to fixing several of the idiotic design choices (compromises) in the Storm Mk1. I never had a problem with the click screen after applying some recommended fixes. I hope the build quality had been improved as I went through 4 phones before giving up. Probably the biggest issue I had with the phone (as a smartphone) was the terrible memory management. Blackberry, while they advertize several gigs of internal storage, use a small dedicated memory pool for the OS, program storage, and data (email) storage. On the original that was 128 MB. Just turning the phone on dropped that to 50 MB usable and after loading several apps, it would drop to 10-20. At that level the phone became very sluggish. And the OS have a propensity to leak memory so that as the day went on your usable memory level would continue to fall to the point where you had to pull the battery to reset the phone.
Conservative, mod down for violating
I almost bought the storm, but i went to the store and tried it out and didn't like the touch screen. So i bought the blackberry BOLD 9000, and I am very happy with it.
Whatever the outcome, ANYTHING that doesn't use itunes to sync = a win for me!
Does it support IMAP/POP/SMTP natively or are you still stuck with the pile-of-crap BIS/BES services for email (or using Web interfaces or third party java apps)?
I won't even consider looking at this model for the rest of our small (16) corporate team unless we can use our own (postfix-based) mail servers. The fact that we have to hand over our email account usernames and passwords AND pay just so the Vodafone BIS server can pick up mail and kindly pass it on to the Blackberries (and vice versa) is simply crap, a security risk and a PITA if a user changes their password via our mail server's Web interface.
That is why I have an HTC Rhodium (Touch Pro 2)!
AT&ROFLMAO
> After the disappointment of the Palm Pre, could this be the smartphone to beat?
Does everyone already forget that the Pre was going to be the one to beat after the disappointment of the Storm? Clearly the Pre 2 will be the one to beat after the disappointment of the
There's nothing wrong with the Pre, and the "disappointment" has little to do with the phone. The disappointment is that it didn't stop the iPhone from clobbering them in the market in spite of the hue and cry from the haters and fanbois alike. If you define your disappointment by the lack of relative sales, then my guess is that this is going to be a disappointment too.
It's not about the phone, it's about what you can get onto the phone quickly and easily. Anyone that's Midomi'd a song while walking past a bar patio and then instantly downloaded it from iTunes knows what I mean. Consumers get this, and it seems only the self-declared "experts" who are missing this forest.
Maury
The Storm doesn't seem to be a business centric phone like the rest of the Blackberries. So having it on a carrier without SIM cards isn't that big of an issue. Besides, there are probably plenty of people on the Verizon network (most subscribers in the US, like you said) just waiting for a decent smartphone to be available on Verizon's network. It really doesn't sound that complicated on a non-GSM carrier. You still need to obtain a new phone from somewhere, even if you have a SIM card.
Smart phone to beat? This can mean only one thing... Apple went out of business!
When I say above "being able to connect to the wireless network at my office with it (WPA Enterprise), which nobody's managed to do yet with an iPhone/iPod Touch", I'm talking about a specific network (at my office), not all WPA Enterprise networks. For whatever reason, a Pre can connect with no problem, but iPhones/iPod Touches do not. Oddly, OSX laptops connect just fine as well, so I was surprised when other Apple products had trouble.
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
You can bash VZW's CDMA network all you want, but as long as they keep giving me 4 bars of EVDO goodness out here in the desert in rural southwestern New Mexico, they'll get nothing but love from me :)
2 GB of Storage = Fail. 'nuff said.
The Storm may be a great Blackberry, but that doesn't make it the smartphone to beat. That remains the iPhone until proven otherwise.
Individual phones may have great features (The Pre has its relatively unrestricted development environment and multitasking, Blackberries have the BES for corporate management, etc., and Android has whatever the hell Android has), but until you take the full ecosystem that Apple's spawned and replicate most of it elsewhere they're still the king of the hill.
It's not that Apple invented the smartphone per se (I still remember my old Treo 650 that usually worked, for instance, and my 1st generation Blackberry I used at my old job), but the current popular definition of a smartphone is pretty much "has a touchscreen, runs bajillions of apps, is shiny and pretty, and can be my media center".
AKA iPhone. They created the definition that the average person is using nowadays, they were the first mover, and their app store has created a huge platform lock-in.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Apparently you're not from the midwest. The Blackberry smartphones have been incredibly popular out here in Verizonland - if, for no other reason, than there are no other smartphones worth half a damn available.
With Verizon bandwidth fees and quality of service/bandwidth throughput, you're not going to be able to use an iPhone or WinMo phone anyway...
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Or...if you're seriously that reliant on RIM phones, you could keep several extra on hand, and you can activate them yourself using Verizon's support website.
My Razr v3M broke last year. I had still kept my old phone from before my upgrade. I just went to the support website and deactivated my phone myself and activated my old one. Easy peasy.
You don't need to visit the store to switch a phone. First you'll need a spare phone handy to do the swap (GSM or Verizon). If you have a spare phone then all you need to do is go online and log into your account, switch the phone out in your account and magically the replacement phone is now activated.
I've done this several times on Verizon and it works.
This is a relevant complaint, except in the case of Verizon it takes a 90 second phone call to support (or use of an automated tool) in order to change phones. As long as the new phone is compatible with the network, they will switch it over no questions asked. Your hyperbole about how much easier this is to accomplish with a GSM SIM card is pretty, well, hyperbolic. You may have had a point if you told us that contact lists in non-SIM enabled phones are harder to transfer, but again there are several tools thanks to Verizon that make it an easy task. That being said, even if it were a hassle to switch devices when one broke, I still would never consider signing with ATT, Tmobile, or Sprint. Their networks, in EVERY area I have traveled in the past few years, have been noticeably inferior to Verizon's. I can't even remember the number of times I have had to say "here, use my phone, it works here" when traveling. Too many, to be certain.
Serious question - I'm a dumbphone user finally wanting to move to a smartphone, and in the next couple of months. I have to (read: want to) stay on Verizon, and don't want a Windows Mobile phone. I've decided on either the Storm2 or the upcoming Android phones, but am not sure which to go with.
Essentially what I want is a phone that I can email/message/facebook/twitter/do tasks/organize my life with. I want to be able to browse the web, but I don't see myself spending lots of time doing that; usually I see it just looking up something quick. I also don't see myself as a big apps/games user, but then again having never had that experience I don't know - maybe I would if the opportunity were there.
From what I can tell, my impressions are:
BB pros:
better build quality
good (best?) messaging/email ability (I don't really know, but figured that was their background so it must be very good?)
relatively proven track record for phones like this
BB cons:
lack of webkit browser (aren't they supposed to be working on this? when? would the S2 get it eventually?)
generally "closed" system
I have the perception there's less consumer app development for BB than with other platforms
Android pros:
webkit browser
open system
app development seems to have more potential, especially with consumer apps
Android cons:
how is the messaging? Does it work well?
still young...although that doesn't bother me that much
from what I have seen of the VZW leaks, the form factors don't seem as nice as the BB.
Having experience with neither, I don't really know if I have a preference between hard or soft keyboards.
Thoughts or advice?
If an employee drops their phone and needs to replace it ASAP, someone in the company can pull the SIM card, put it into a new phone, and the employee is back to work with minimal downtime - unless you're on a non-GSM carrier in which case you need to have the magic store deactivate the old phone, sell you a new phone, activate it, etc...
I don't know about Verizon, but you don't have to go to a Sprint store to activate or swap phones. You can activate phones online. Although it might involve reprogramming the phone, they give you instructions on how to do so, and reprogramming can be done in under a minute. Last time I activated a Sprint phone, it picked up the programming automatically, so I didn't even have to do that. Contacts wouldn't transfer over immediately, but if your phone supports wireless synchronization with an exchange server or something, then a simple update there fixes that problem.
So yes, you can swap CDMA phones rather quickly, even without having to open the battery door.
There was a segment on the daily show recently where Stewart showed how CNN would allow people to make spurious claims and then say "ok, we're out of time!" without making them back up their claims. That's a little how I feel here. How is the Pre disappointing? My impression is that most people who own one really love it and are very cognizant of the advantages over the iPhone (multitasking, open development environment, using the data connection for things that are actually useful).
So I'm wondering if this "disappointment" is just the disappointment of barrence, and really has no baring on the general view of the public. Any way, we're out of space on the synopsis, so I guess we'll never know.
or else!
"If an employee drops their phone and needs to replace it ASAP, someone in the company can pull the SIM card, put it into a new phone, and the employee is back to work with minimal downtime - unless you're on a non-GSM carrier in which case you need to have the magic store deactivate the old phone, sell you a new phone, activate it, etc..." ... CDMA.
If the SIM is from the same carrier or if the phone is "unlocked".
CDMA is a better technology than GSM. In fact the new high speed GSM modes are based on
Verizon and Sprint both seem to deliver better service in more places than TMobile and AT&T which are the two GSM providers.
The idea of unlocked phones with SIM cards is great and if you travel to europe a lot GSM is the way to go but it isn not an old network technology.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Not a single post in this thread deserves the Troll or Redundant mods they were given. Troll and Redundant are not synonyms for "I don't like the products you're talking about".
More disturbing is, counting up the number of mod points used, it looks like there's more than one person involved in this ass-hattery.
FYI: CDMA is a newer technology than GSM. GSM began deployment in 1990 (But had been in testing since the 80's), CDMA started being deployed in 1995.
However I do agree with the SIM card being the important thing in a company environment. If VZW and Sprint made all new phones use a UICC, it would benefit their customers greatly.
LogicMail. Open source loves you (it's a great program)!
Quack, quack.
As a BlackBerry Curve user, here are the things I find most annoying about the phone:
Does anyone know if BlackBerry are addressing some or all of these issues?
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Nicholas - you're a smarter guy than I'll ever be but on this you're wrong. It's the hardware - it's sexy. It's thin, almost all screen, and all touch.
Try this with the iPhone... it is a GSM phone but this does not work (you need to call the carrier). This is relevant as the new blackberry is trying to compete with the iPhone. In fact, SIM locking is very common in the US and not limited to the iPhone (though the iPhone has the most restrictive implementation).
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
3g CDMA RIM devices use SIM cards.
Seems a troll, but VZW's is head and shoulders above AT&T and all other cell phone companies (regardless of technology) are just bit players.
it takes a 90 second phone call to support
they will switch it over
several tools thanks to Verizon
Sure, the Verizon network is happy to take your money and switch your phone for you. But that is not convenient in a multiuser corporate environment where there may be many business issued phones that need to be available constantly for traveling employees.
And if you are an individual user on the Verizon network, and you just broke your phone and need a cheap replacement, what can you do? Nothing. You get to go dish out full price for a new phone to Verizon because there is virtually no market for used CDMA phones. Many pawn shops won't even touch used CDMA or TDMA phones.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Einsturzende Neubauten, Minor Threat, Sex Pistols, Subhumans, Throbbing Gristle, Big Black...
Eviscerati.Org: All Hail the Eviscerati
I'd say Nokia E72 ftw! but then realize it was announced ages ago and is now planned to ship with a free copy of Duke Nukem Forever.
... If an employee drops their phone and needs to replace it ASAP, someone in the company can pull the SIM card, put it into a new phone, and the employee is back to work with minimal downtime - unless you're on a non-GSM carrier in which case you need to have the magic store deactivate the old phone, sell you a new phone, activate it, etc...
When I was on verizon, all it took to swap phones was to enter the new ID into my account online. I could switch phones anytime with no problems.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
If I could just swap phones as needed during the course of the day.
It gives you one phone number which when called would ring all your phones. Then you can use whatever phone depending on your activity at the moment. As a matter of fact when I get home from work, I would switch an active call from my cell phone to my home phone without missing a beat if I ever need to cut down on mobile minutes.
My understanding was that the original Blackberry storm was widely panned as being slow buggy and generally unusable. The Palm pre on the other hand has been said by many reviewers I have read to be solid and the only real competitor to the iPhone. By the way I own neither.