Key features:
3.25" 65K-color capacitive touchscreen of 360 x 480 pixel resolution
A new touchscreen experience thanks to SurePress screen
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 2100 MHz 3G with HSDPA support
3.15 MP autofocus camera, LED flash
BlackBerry OS 4.7
624 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM
Built-in GPS and BlackBerry maps preloaded
1 GB internal storage
Hot-swappable microSD card slot, ships with an 8GB card
Landscape virtual QWERTY keyboard goes as close to hardware keys as we have seen
Great build quality
Solid looks
3.5mm standard audio jack
Bluetooth and USB v2.0
Really nice web browser
Document editor
Excellent audio quality
Main disadvantages:
No Wi-fi
Only BlackBerry email support out of the box
Interface not as quick as competitors
Chubbier than most touchscreen phones
Mediocre camera
No FM radio
No Flash support
Fingerprint-prone front panel
At this point we're expected to pass the final verdict and we are afraid it is not the one we would have liked it to be. The BlackBerry Storm isn't really likely to achieve that sweeping convergence success. Quite unfortunately for the unique touchscreen, the rest of the device's features spell doom for the whole TouchBerry project.
The BlackBerry Storm fails to outgrow the company tradition and even if the exterior screams multimedia, the conservative business nature of BlackBerry shines through. It's almost like the guys at RIM are saying new members aren't welcome to the club, which we thought was the very idea of the Storm. And the existing members are almost sure to go for the Bold instead so the Storm pretty much finds itself in the middle of nowhere.
The amount of third party applications available can also be decisive for the Storm's ambitions. A device that gets upgraded is much more valuable than the what-you-see-is-what-you-get variety. While there certainly are some 3rd party applications that you can get for your Storm right now, their number is generally less than that of competing smartphones or even than those for other Blackberries. We really hope that the upcoming Blackberry App World would change things for the better.
Generally the Storm feels a stranger within its own family without being fit enough to survive the fierce competition outside of it. Obviously no company can afford to stay out of the touchscreen race and RIM are well aware of that. They even took the effort to differentiate their product with the unique SurePress system. The thing however is that the Storm remains a peculiar touch-enabled BlackBerry - with all the strengths this entails - but fails to stand up to the touchscreen standard-setters.
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