Launch Party: Verizon shows off the BlackBerry Storm (Update 1)

by Steve Ragan - Nov 12 2008, 21:26

UPDATE:

Now that it's 12:01 AM on November 13. We can officially tell you that the BlackBerry Storm hits the retail streets on November 21, 2008. The retail cost will be $199.99 USD after a $50.00 USD mail-in rebate and the signing of a new two-year service contract.

Tuesday in Indianapolis, Indiana, RIM and Verizon Wireless hosted a launch event for the BlackBerry Storm. The Storm is the first BlackBerry that comes without the warm and fuzzy familiarity of a scroll wheel or trackball. This BlackBerry is a touch-screen handset and, unlike the touch screen on other phones, this one clicks when you touch it.

The event, attended by about 200 people, consisted mostly of local IT and IS department employees from some of the larger businesses situated in Indianapolis. Eli Lily was in attendance, as well as St. Vincent Hospital and IPL. Most of the crowd jumped at the chance to see the new Research In Motion device before the rest of the world.

 

Dawn Bratton, manager of Data Sales for Verizon, told The Tech Herald that the business customers who'd previewed the phone ahead of time were already showing, "A lot of excitement."

"We're waiting for the doors to bust open," she commented. "They want it because it's new and they want it because it's BlackBerry. For those who are carrying World Edition [BlackBerry 8830], this one is one better."

The "one better" Bratton mentions comes from the addition of Quad Band support, which allows the phone to operate on a wider global scale. Unlike the 8830, the Storm will work in Japan, which Bratton claims will see Verizon able to "pick up that much more of an international customer."

At time of writing, there is no solid release date for the Storm, with Verizon refusing to nail down an official retail introduction and only saying that the timeframe is "soon" and some time this quarter.

Likewise, Verizon would not stand firm on a price for the new phone. The best guess would be $99.00 USD, if pushed during a holiday rush, or a regular price of $199.00 USD coupled with a two-year service contract.

The launch of the BlackBerry Storm for Verizon is just one device unveiling in a line of several exclusive releases. Verizon has launched more exclusive phones in 2008 than any other company, and each release was aimed at something different. The targeting of these devices have ranged from messaging to visual performance, through to music and business.

"We're not a one-phone company," Verizon said during its introductory address.

The phone:

 

There are so many things about the Storm to like; almost anyone who currently uses a BlackBerry will likely love the new look and feel.

The Storm comes loaded for both the casual and business user. It’s ready to go on Flickr, with a built-in Flickr application and a 3.2 mega pixel camera. There is a pre-loaded Facebook application, as well as it coming shipped with an 8GB microSD memory card (16GB max).

It will also use Visual Voicemail, as well as all the other Verizon-branded services. Documents2Go, a new RIM application, allows the editing of Excel, PowerPoint and Word documents. And there is coverage for the Storm in over 200 countries, thanks in part to Vodafone, and data access in 150 of them.

The Storm is a little lighter than the 8830, but easy to grip and maintain. The on-screen keypad comes in three views for easy access, but the normal QWERTY keypad is displayed as default (going from left to right widescreened), making the functionality as easy to use as other BlackBerry devices, and completely thumb driven.

There's a lot of hype concerning the Storm's touch screen abilities and, at the same time, there is also a lot of skepticism from Verizon users who've toyed with various other touch-based offerings in the past. So, if other touch devices are just "so-so," is the Storm any different? Not only is it different, those 'other' touch devices are not even in the same ballpark.

Make no mistake, the BlackBerry Storm is no normal touch device. The screen feels like a semi-hard plastic. It really bends when you press on it, but, when pressed hard, it simply moves in and doesn't show any signs of wanting to crack or break. Whether using two hands and thumbs, or single-finger touch, the Storm offers by far the most reactive touch screen tested to date by The Tech Herald.

 

RIM calls the technology SurePress, and what it consists of is something that sits behind the semi-hard plastic screen that gives users the same direct feedback they'd get when pushing a button on their regular BlackBerry. It’s a funny feeling at first, but will soon become famailiar because it feels like RIM turned the screen into a giant BlackBerry button.

It’s hard to describe exactly how it feels to use a Storm. It’s something you have to experience.

Carl Cameron, a St. Vincent Hospital IS staffer said, “I like that, you actually feel like you’ve done something,” when he used the SurePress technology for the first time. Mr. Cameron then moved into the media menu and started to play a video, saying, “The video is excellent, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cell phone that clear.”

“It’s nice, you actually get to feel it, you know that your doing something,” he said when asked about the physical feel of the Storm's screen.

St. Vincent Hospital uses BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Carl Cameron, Annette Harris, and Cory Dick, three IS team members, were at the event to see what the Storm was all about -- as doctors were already asking to be upgraded. St. Vincent only allows BlackBerry on its network, for security reasons, despite the doctors asking for iPhone and other Windows Mobile device support.

“We like to play with them a little bit before we give them to the doctors, so that when they call with questions we have an idea about what we’re telling them,” said Annette Harris, when she was asked why they were attending the launch event.

Open on Verizon:

The Storm will be the first Verizon device to take advantage of Verizon’s new Application Store, and the first device to get support for the OPEN project. This means that, just like the Application Store for the iPhone, users will get added software for the Storm that they can download for a fee or, depending on the application, free.

The fact this comes from Verizon is a huge deal. As many users of the Verizon network would point out, it’s about time Verizon opened up its phones and allowed consumers to use services and software they wanted, without being nickel and dimed to death.

A Verizon spokesperson explained the GPS functions for the Storm when The Tech Herald was working over the phone. He commented that the GPS is stronger in the new OS version, and that Verizon has spent a lot of money upgrading the network to support not just VZ Navigator, its own GPS service, but to make third-party GPS offerings more accurate and to ensure they function well.

Internet Access:

Full-blown REV-A speeds and 3G access allows the Internet to explode on the Storm.

During testing, the browser correctly displayed The Tech Herald, and the site was simple to navigate and read thanks to the zoom functions offered in the browser design. Like the iPhone, users drag a finger to zoom in and out and move all over the page.

While it might have been a bug in the beta code on the Storm, sites heavy in Java slowed the Storm and even locked the device. The lockup didn’t last long, and the Storm corrected the problem itself.

Multimedia:

The multimedia aspect on the Storm is amazing. Watching movie trailers during the demo, the screen is bright and clear, and is the highest resolution of any BlackBerry. The trailer for Iron Man and the new James Bond film never looked so good. Yet, while the display is amazing, the sound on the Storm could be a little louder. While the sound is clear, there's room for aural improvement compared to other Verizon offerings.

Storage:

The underside of the Storm demonstrates another new aspect: the hot swapping of microSD cards. The microSD carriage on the Storm is easier to get to than it was on other BlackBerry devices (Curve excluded), and is located is a separate section next to the battery.

 

Overall:

There were some glitches when typing out an e-mail, but those were largely user error, and the fact that the screen will need to be calibrated for each user. The default calibration will work for almost everyone, but some users will still want one finger use. For them, there is a calibration to make the Storm less sensitive to key mashing.

The units tested during the launch event were all beta models. One Verizon spokesperson told The Tech Herald that RIM was working hard to finish the firmware for final release. The final firmware will add functionality to the Storm, but mostly the update will address bugs and other last minute issues that were discovered through extensive testing. The things on the fix list are likely to include: speeding up the screen shifting (when the screen adjusts to the angle of the phone offering either vertical or horizontal displays); various improvements to the navigation menu and display; and the correction of glitches in the browser.

When the Storm sits back-to-back with a BlackBerry Bold, the two can’t even compare. Hands down, the Storm rolls all over the Bold's features. The Storm also adds a wow factor that's more than just glitz and glam, it honestly takes the best RIM has to offer, and presents it in an appealing and easy-to-use package.

So what about the iPhone? Here are a few thoughts. With the addition of SurePress technology, are RIM and Verizon moving to take on AT&T and Apple? Can we safely call the Storm 'the answer to the iPhone?' Only you, the consumer, can decide that.

Still, no matter your opinion on those thoughts, you can bet Verizon will make a killing off this phone. Once it is officially released, it’s sure to take the market by... well... Storm.

Around the Web