On Thursday afternoon after a gruelling day of classes I came across an acquaintance (friend of a friend :p) who was sporting the unreleased Blackberry Storm. Although i had only a few minutes with the unit, I have definitely made up my mind and my questions have been answered.
1. What is the clicking like?
Well, it’s not as cool as it could/should be. The whole screen is an entire button and it clicks similar to a mouse button. The problem is that typing is not faster than the iPhone. The travel on the screen button is too long and you have to move your fingers awkwardly. The other issue I had with it was that the keyboard unlike the iPhone does not pop-up the key which your covering with your finger. I have chubby fingers and sadly mistakes happen when typing on any type of keyboard.
2. Can you tap instead of click to select items on screen?
No you cannot. As much as you want to on the unit i had you cannot.
3. Is it big?
As you can see in the pictures it’s not at all. It is about the size of the IPhone. It felt really comfortable in my hands. It was also not too heavy not too light. Overall build quality is exceptional. Definitely a great example of RIM build quality.
4. Is the screen Bold-like?
It is a pretty high res screen. Colours looked gorgeous as the bold. I am guessing that the screen is capacitive also. Doesn’t really matter since it responds to the physical click.
5. Is it a great IPhone replacement?
Sadly no. As much as RIM tries to market these new handsets to consumers it shows it’s inexperience and, let’s face it, desperation. There is nothing that stands out about the device other than the clickable screen. The media capabilities are there, just not all that exciting. The IPhone is widening the gap right now by becoming the top selling phone in North America. I would like to state that I am not an IPhone or Apple fanboy, just an technology enthusiast trying to get my fix on my tech addiction. I am patiently awaiting a Windows Mobile + Zune phone replacement for my current IPhone 3G as I feel all Windows Live Service, Windows 7 and Windows Mobile 6.5 will the all-in-one package of interactivity.
Again…If you love BlackBerry and want a touch screen get it.
Filip
Leaked today on the Internet today were images of 4.7(unlike the expected 5.0) OS of the much anticipated IPhone “killer” from RIM. Spec’d out to have a 360×480 resolution, places it at slightly bigger than the IPhone form factor. The device is said to come in both GSM and CDMA flavours.
