The folks over at Engadget Mobile recently got the opportunity to spend a few minutes with the BlackBerry Storm 2 which was recently rumored to be coming out by the end of June. Engadget has a video of their hands-on time with the Storm 2, however, you won’t really see much more than you see here in this picture as the device isn’t working.
The major differences between the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the original BlackBerry Storm is the lack of the clickable SurePress keyboard.
The display is a capacitive number, and it’s definitely not SurePress, at least in the traditional sense; there’s nary a click to be found. In fact, it behaves rather like the iPhone’s screen as far as scrolling and even texture of the surface is concerned.
Additionally, the four physical buttons accross the bottom of the original Storm have been replaced by 4 soft buttons that are part of the touch screen.
[Source]
The big question for me is if RIM overhauled the OS enough for the Storm 2 not to appear to suck when compared to the iPhone. I hate to compare the two devices, but, as far as touch screen devices are concerned, the bar has been set.
Doubtful it would happen, but RIM should build a version of the OS from Storm 2 for Storm 1 users so we have the option of using either. I doubt it would happen because it would then cut into Storm 2 sales.
“it behaves rather like the iPhone’s screen as far as scrolling and even texture of the surface is concerned.”
Sounds like RIM learned the error of their ways, dumping SurePress for one is a step forward. Now if only the OS could be made up to current smartphone standards.
(“until RIM seriously overhauls it’s web browser, 3G doesn’t really matter all that much”)
I’d check a Storm 2 out…. depending of course on how many of the features and functions have been crippled aka verizoned. RIM should sell these direct, unbranded and unlocked.
3G matters a ton for those who tether like myself. Oh…that’s right, the iPhone can’t do that either. AT&T cripples devices because their network sucks (which is another great reason why they have wifi on those lovely smartphones they sell), and the people at Apple need to figure out how to get their device to multi-task if it’s going to hit prime time corporate America. I like the iPhone, but it’s limited.
As a VZW customer I can honestly say that no carrier limits their phones like VZW does. It is a good thing that they have great coverage and call clarity.
SurePress rocks! The detractors are those who were not willing to learn and master it. I will type faster on my SP now than any iPhone tapper….
I hate that they’ve removed SP from Storm 2. What a bust for those of us who have been using it for 6 months and absolutely love it.
It took a good month to get great at it and after 2 months you could fly. It’s great for one thumb writing as well. SP is fantastic and I can’t imagine buying a phone without it. the detractors were those too lazy to learn it.
disappointed. All the Storm users I’ve met love SurePress. Why not listen to your users/owners rather than naysayers who already were biased to the inferior iPhone. Those battery issues for iPhone users are horrendous….
I always thought SurePress was actually a pretty innovative way to recreate the touch sensation of a real keyboard. In a way I’m sorry that they are retreating on that, rather than perfecting it.
I still say that you cannot out Apple Apple, and so if RIM is just going to try to recreate the iPhone, well they will probably fall short.
Again, it’s disappointing that in essence RIM is admitting surrender rather than trying to pioneer something different and in some ways better for some purposes. I wonder how many will end up preferring the Storm 1 for text entry?
Innovative as it may be, it slowed down people like myself, and actually became quite frustrating. While everyone has their own preference, I believe RIM took the feedback from the masses. Heck, if they are going to follow Apple in certain areas, why not. There’s many aspects I enjoy about the iPhone. Microsoft did a pretty good job back in the day and out Appled Apple. 🙂
Perfect phone? RIM’s email, iPhone’s innovation and browser, and the Pre’s form factor, on Verizon with a Simply Everything plan like Sprints. But I’m sure in 2010 we’ll be talking about something else completely different and discussing out frustrations and minimal satisfaction. Guess it’s a good thing that we continue to push the envelope. 🙂
RIM makes great keypad based devices and has reached out to the consumer market via the pearl 8100. I say continue to specialize on what RIM knows best and improve OS, browser software. The online app store is a good adaptation. I’d keep a BlackBerry for business and a separate line for personal use with the iPhone.
My guess is that RIM/VZW wanted a new Storm out to better compete against the coming onslaught of the new iPhone and the Palm Pre.
However, I believe that RIM/VZW know that the Tour will be their biggest seller, and so this new Storm is just kind of a stop gap measure until the Tour hits.
I have a funny feeling that the storm 2 will be launching WITH the Tour this summer.
Just a hunch, but the battle is vs the Pre, not the IPhone.
Actually the IPhone has only one market that it dominates it, that is the teeny market.
And though the IPhone has great sales…BB still tops Apple overall.
The Pre will either be a hit or miss for Palm but their innovative switch application is very very cool. Imagie being able to listen to your Pandora while checking your e-mail and then do your calendar for tomorrow without having to hit the back button and scroll
But the Tour and the Storm 2 will both offer very different experiences as far as BB usage. The storm 2 will be less of a hype because it is to move forward with it while the Tour is the complete upgrade from the Curve
I think they shoul have stuck with the suretype…OR…offer both multi touch capabilities and suretouch capabilities on the phone, to appease both audiences
and understanding these phones will be both world phones as well, the wifi adds a nice touch for those who travel to canada
but IPhone is not in this ring at all…it’s in the sidelines with the kiddies watching youtube videos and playing with the iFart an having ants crawl all over the screen
and as a personal note…this Tour better fu$@!ng get here fast because now ATT has the 8900 and I am totally at WTF right now because I want an updated BB lol, love my curve but time for a better os
The iPhone is/has been making it into all markets including the Corporate market in a big way. It’s completely foolish and ignorant to try to downplay the power of the iPhone and what the iPhone has done and continues to do to the smartphone market. RIM is making some good devices and it would be foolish to think that Apple with it’s iPhone isn’t pushing RIM to doing better and making sure BB devices are refreshed and available to compete. Which is a positive for all consumers.
As for Palm and the Pre…. good luck, they might have something, they might not. Certainly putting it out exclusively on Sprint is not the best step forward for a device which is more a less do or die for Palm. The smartphone market is alot different than the market which Palm had success with the Treo. The smartphone market now has RIM BB’s and Apple iPhone’s which are certainly leading the industry. Have not played with a preview Pre yet to judge anything else but i.m.o. the Pre’s form factor is far too thick from the current industry standard. Also the years and years of Palm being unable to provide a state of the art smartphone has driven consumers away from Palm and they will never look back or find a need to even consider a product from Palm again. Sad but True.
Howard Stern Chooses Blackberry
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2009/04/howard_stern_chooses_blackberry_proves_that_apps_are_king_for_smartphones.html
^ LOL…
Rock, you make me laugh. Question for you…what do you do for a living? May I also ask, which large corporations that you know of rolled out iPhones…and I’m talking a thousand plus, not ten or twenty.
I’m in the biz. I run nationwide migrations for some of the largest companies out there. iPhones…not a chance.
Oh…as for the Pre being thick…have you held and tested one already? Please tell all…
bluehorseshoe,
Please learn to post like a adult. You have been reminded many times before RIMarkable is not for you to post your desperate personal shots and to stroke your fragile ego.
Your obviously not what you claim (but we already knew that, such a “power user” ha ha ha ha) or you would have the information of which major corporations are already offering the iPhone both with or even instead of BB’s. Claiming the iPhone isn’t making major in-roads into the corporate market (along with the consumer market) is as completely foolish and ignorant to try to downplay the iPhone as a device for the “teeny market” or is a “kiddies” device.
The Pre seems to be double the thickness of the iPhone & is thicker than the BB Curve, Storm, Bold, Pearl = poor form factor.
Pre = 3.96″ x 2.34″ x 0.67″ 4.76 oz
iPhone = 4.3″ x 2.4″ x 0.33″ 4.05 oz
All that said looking forward to checking out the Storm 2. With RIM smartly dropping “SurePress” (face it, pressing down on a 4″x3″ panel of glass is nothing like the feeling of individual keys. Without SurePress it takes away both the mechanical and wasted processing speed) and along with some OS tweaks RIM might just have something.
Still RIM would be smarter to give consumers the option of buying it’s world devices unlocked and unbranded. They could sell a ton and have the added bonus of not having verizon cripple and remove features and functions. Verizon’s messing with the firmware likely made the original Storm less reliable than what we expect from RIM. The added bonus of RIM taking control of their devices would be timely OS updates, something else Verizon has completely failed it’s BB users on.
^ LOL. I think we all know what we’re dealing with here…you even self admitted that the iPhone is labeled as a device for the “teeny market” or is a “kiddies” device. While I never said that, I think you did a good job yourself describing the market for the iPhone.
BTW…you never answered my question. What do you do for a living (…aw heck, we all know you work for Verizon)?
bluehorseshoe,
Yet Again…..
Please grow up and learn to post like a adult. You have been reminded many times before RIMarkable is not for you to post your desperate personal shots and to stroke your fragile ego. Rimarkable is not a place for you to post your opinions of others or what they post. Grow Up.
bluehorseshoe,
Better to read, understand, and learn (if thats even possible for you) who posts what before posting showing you have little clue who said what…..
If you don’t like it, ignore it. Let it go. Keep your posts relevant to the topic, not going back and forth.
For my take on the topic…I say let the Storm 2 come out. People will have a choice of getting the 1 or 2 for a while, depending on their like or dislike. It just expands the options for the consumer of what they’re more comfortable with. OS will still be upgraded for either one, fixing bugs and expanding RIMs market.
I personally think it will have some tactile feedback options that will make it considerable or desirable for the same business users they have. It’s still ‘beta’ and not final. The only thing I want them to fix is the app memory available. I can’t stand losing email messages because of a couple new apps taking up that memory space. Grr.
From Engadget: Surepress is here to stay!!!!
In a scandalous, but not entirely shocking turn of events, RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis has declared from the stage of D7 in no uncertain terms that “SurePress is here to stay.” The trouble is, there’s no clarification of what he means by that, since the Storm 2 we’ve been toying with quite obviously lacks a click-screen mechanism. Our best shot-in-the-dark guess is that RIM has developed some alternative to a physical click that may or may not duplicate the functionality adequately, while hopefully removing some of the frustration experienced by the physical click of the Storm. What is clear is that apparently whatever face-saving technology that turns out to be, Mike and co. plan on calling it SurePress.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/27/rim-ceo-surepress-is-here-to-stay/
I’ve had the blackberry storm a little over a month. Seemed ok as a rule. However I loaded there ( new & improved ) updates they say is great for you.. BIG MISTAKE. My pictures were all re sized and would not fit for wallpaper any more. I had to re fix ALL my apps I loaded and Ive had a LOT of trouble with my email. In fact after 2 days its still not working. Very upset with verizon. They didn’t seem to be to worried about my trouble and just said well thats the way these things go sometimes. Well thanks for nothing. Ive made my mind up that Im NOT going to deal with a 3rd day of this. I’m getting my envy back on line tomorrow. Its not just the email issue. I dont believe the bugs are worked out yet and thats alot of money out of YOUR pocket untill they do. They dont seem to care about your issues once your 30 days are up and they have your money. I’m just saying if you think this phone is for you do yourself a favor and do more reserch then I did. There “updates” have caused me nothing but grief..
I got the new Storm 2 today and I must say that I LOVE it!! I was skeptical at first because I had such high hopes for the original Storm but after fooling around with it decided to just stick it out with my BB Curve til something better came along. I was glad I waited. Everything I didn’t like about the original Storm is now not an issue with the Storm 2. It is very responsive and easy to use. It’s got a great camera and camcorder (I don’t think the Iphone has a camcorder), it now has Wi-Fi, and it’s on a 3G network that is better than AT&T. Even my friends who have the Iphone and subscribe to AT&T wishes their coverage was better. They complain about getting lots of dropped calls. It seems the only thing good about AT&T is the Iphone. Before I looked into the Storm 2, I was going to cancel my account with Verizon and get the Iphone with AT&T but since their network is not as good as Verizon’s, what good is having the Iphone if I get dropped calls all the time? The Storm 2 gives me the best of both worlds. I’m sooooo glad I waited for the Storm 2!!!
Please everyone shut the hell up I had the storm1 for 6 mos and I hated it I now have the curve still don’t like it but its better than the storm the storm 2 will be just hype it will come out and suck like its counterpart did and verizon can kiss my ass they nickle and dime you to damn death SCREW VERIZON!!!!! And all yall too!
i just got the blackberry storm 2 and i have to say i LOVE it.
Its a million times better than the storm and im glad they worked out the kinks.
Plus im still in high school and i love the wi-fi. Anytime i need to get on facebook during school i can 😉
im head over heels in love with my phone:)
great phone, love the processor. glad i got it, it’s not as big as my htc hd2 and i don’t like it as much but it’s growing on me! great to go on the internet and even as an unlocked phone it keeps good reception where im from. getting another for my kid as a present. gonna buy it off of gsmauthority.com they got fast shipping and as much as i procrastinate i’ll need it! but definately give this phone 2 thumbs up.
The Blackberry Strom 2 does s have the surepress technology . They improved it by placing 4 pizo electric sensors underneath the screen . The original had only one in the middle . You dont have to press as much as you did on the first strom thats why it does fleel like your pressing as much .