AT&T to potential BlackBerry Storm customers: Storm sucks, iPhone rulez!
You definitely have to take this one at face value, but there’s an internal document floating around inside AT&T pitting the iPhone 3G against the upcoming BlackBerry Storm. We had our doubts about this document at first, but we received it from two independent sources now, so it’s legit! Here’s some of the smack-talking AT&T lays down:
- The Storm doesn’t have multi-touch
- There’s no Wi-Fi
- The Storm doesn’t have an App Store
- Stormy Storm doesn’t have tri-band HSDPA
- The browser sucks on the Storm
- No iTunes action (movies, music, etc.)
Yeah yeah, we know you can sync your BlackBerry with DRM-free music in iTunes so don’t get your panties in a bunch over that line. We think legitimate points so far, but the browser hasn’t been tested and tri-band HSDPA doesn’t matter if you’re not using the device on AT&T in the United States. Peanut gallery, you’re up!
Thanks, AT&T ninjas!
Tags: app store, AT&T, BlackBerry, HSDPA, iphone 3g, itunes, multi-touch, storm, thunder, Wi-Fi
I thought the storm does have multi-touch….?
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The thing that has me most curious about the storm is honestly, the web surfing experience. The iPhone has an unbelievable browser but the lack of flash support is really a joke at this point. If the storm’s browser supported flash, I’m sure they’d be screaming it up and down the hills so I’ve given up most hope. We’ll see how the basic touch click interface turns out though. What the ninja showed us certainly wasn’t promising in the least bit.
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AT&T would do well to stop worrying so much about the Storm, and work on getting us the Bold in a timely fashion. I’m about to go Verizon and buy the Storm just to spite them.
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The Storm will be a major player in this race, however we all know that in 1-2 years time all this banter will be nothing but a drop in the bucket. Cheers to innovation, may we progress even further than the iPhone and Storm.
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this almost sounds desprate on ATT’s part.
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Rofl are they retarded? They said the iPhone has rich HTML email. I guess AT&T really does have their head so far up Apple’s ass that they completely missed the memo that OS 4.5 will have HTML email so I’m sure whatever the Storm ends up running (which I’m guess is 4.6 or higher) will have it as well.
They spent too much time on that internal letter and not enough time launching the Bold.
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Well to be fair, HTML email is fine, but it can’t compare to the iPhone…
Posted from BGR Mobile on iPhone from: New York, NY
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At&t the blackberry bold comes out when???
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No, it has a touch screen, but unlike the iPhone you cannot perform any two-finger gestures such as pinch to zoom in. I am a big BlackBerry fan and I own an 8830 (I also own an iPod Touch, which is irrelevant but may help you interpret my argument more unambiguously), but I think this phone will be a monumental failure. My friends and I discuss this ad nauseam. Forget that BlackBerry’s cater to the business community. Forget push email and everything like that, and let’s just focus on the phone itself for a second. People that have a BlackBerry like a physical keyboard. People that have an iPhone either don’t care about a physical keyboard, or are willing to forgo one to have a phone that “does it all.” The Storm will have everything that makes a BlackBerry great, but it’s not nearly as good as an iPhone (even I can admit it, and if you can’t you’re in denial), and it doesn’t have a physical keyboard (I’ve also heard that typing on the Storm is counterintuitive, but that’s not the point right now). The majority of people that have an iPhone aren’t affected by the shortcomings of MobileMe (inconsistent push email) because they just don’t use the phone for that purpose. Ultimately, the iPhone and BlackBerry’s cater to different crowds, and the neither the iPhone crowd nor the BlackBerry crowd is going to jump ship in large enough numbers to make this phone successful. I just don’t see the phone doing well.
P.S. The T-Mobile G1 looks like the love child of a Sidekick and a BlackBerry. I’m sure android is great, and I see android replacing Windows Mobile at some point, but what individual that has a job wants to be carrying that thing around. The phone is boring, and the buttons look cheap. I’m very little disappointed with the phone’s design. I am a law student, and I would never be able to open that up in a law firm without being laughed at. Look, I’m sure Diddy can use it, but those of us with real jobs need big boy phones. Fortunately, my BlackBerry is free from the firm.
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Yea BGR, I suppose you’re right. When the App store isn’t bricking your device, when you can sync with iTunes, when MobileME isn’t failing and deleting your emails and when you can actually connect to 3G to download your email I suppose to the iPhone 3G is the ultimate device. /end sarcasm
The Wi-Fi thing also… maybe it’s just me, but Wi-Fi is for devices on networks that have poor high speed. It’s more of a “look, because our 3G sucks you get Wi-Fi” as opposed to Verizon at least their EVDO is rock solid so screw Wi-Fi when you can actually use the network?
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I love how at&t is already getting defensive about this release. I think it has more to do with their network problems than anything; at&t continues to get raped with every new survey/study that comes out, finishing dead last in just about every single one. Soon they will no longer be the largest carrier, and Verizon is growing much faster.
Also, I love how they play on the 3G. Congratulations at&t! You have 3G in, what? 40 cities? Way to go! NOT
And we all know that iPhone e-mail CANNOT touch BlackBerry e-mail, so it’s disgraceful that they even mention e-mail in these talking points. I’m surprised they didn’t try and uptalk the disaster that is MobileMe
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Dude, I never said the iPhone was better, or the Storm was better, or anything of the sort. You made a point about HTML email and I corrected you. Storm is a bold with a touch screen nothing more.
P.S. I don’t know what planet you live on, but I’d take my 30mbps Wi-Fi connection over any carriers unreliable and never consistant 3G network.
Posted from BGR Mobile on iPhone from: New York, NY
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Yeah, BGR. BB email has NOTHING on the iPhone.
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EVDO and 3G aren’t that great. Extremely overrated. Wifi is much better.
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I think the Storm has some great potential, but the Iphone is likely to have the better interface. In the end, the Storm is a business designed unit trying to have consumer appeal and the Iphone is the consumer unit trying to have business appeal.
BGR is right and does not have the point that the Storm does not break new ground the way that the Iphone and G1 do as mobile platforms that are super robust….and I use the Blackberry myself, thanks so much…
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BG…. obviously I would love to have wifi when its available to take advantage of. Considering I don’t work in an office and have a laptop at home I would def take verizons 3g over att’s. Its a MOBILE phone so who cares if you have wifi sitting at home. I’ll take my laptop for that.
Is it me or isn’t RIM going to be announcing an app like store at the developers conference next month? Is this not true or does ATT just not know about it?
By the way BG I don’t really see any bias from you in this post, but your use of bullet points might make others think different. Not everyone reads things from start to finish, and bullet points are usually used to highlight aspects of a post. Looking at your bullet points above would make it seem like your anti-storm/rim/verizon like many people think.
Last but not least. I thought multi touch was included. If not wouldn’t “command gestures” be pretty much the same thing?
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Kevin Byrne also confirmed multi touch(also that IT DOES have a camera flash), so we can scratch that one off ATT’s list.
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Those points are mostly valid, EXCEPT: The the point about tri-band HSPA. The reason the iPhone has tri-band HSPA is because of the need for it to work on 850 and 1900 MHz in the US. The 9530/Storm of course works on 850 and 1900 MHz in the US too, but using EV-DO Rev.A. Thus, it only needs the Euro/Asian spec HSPA at 1.9 and 2.1 GHz, which are the same frequencies used by the iPhone in the same geographies. So that talking point, while technically correct, is completely irrelevant to the point they were somehow insinuating.
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Umm, isn’t mobile.blackberry.com or whatever an app store basically? It’s not as pretty or easy to use but it exists.
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Please, correct me if I’m wrong. But didn’t Verizon (and other carriers) release a “Reason why our (insert name of phone here) is better then the iPhone” internal document right before the 3g iPhone came out.. ? I can almost swear I saw one compairing a Blackberry device to the iPhone. I don’t see this as a last ditch effort by AT&T. I see this as what companies do to keep or get your business. Hell even Subway does it when compairing their healthy subs to burgers. I love all the one sided fan boy comments these posts bring out..
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HAHAH…This cracked me up! This is almost like little boys fighting. Are there AT&T reps positioned outside Verizon Wireless store going “Why you going in there? To buy the Storm? Let me hand you this pamphlet…in fact, come over here, we have a better store, with better phones…I’m glad I could be here for you, Mr. Customer. It’s funny how sometime co-incidence like this can pay off, doesn’t it?”
I love AT&T, but come on now…Where’s the BOLD??, where’s the Treo PRO???
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http://www.engadgetmobile.com/photos/verizon-tells-us-all-about-the-blackberry-storms-wow-factors-1/ that is the link to the full power point from verizon, it says there is support for real time streaming videos
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Yes there will be an app store jayjay. I just blocked it from being used on our corporate devices. Check the IT profiles on your corporate BES. It comes in on BESX 4.1.6 but will only be active on OS 4.5 or higher
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It’s important to have ready the information that they have. Prepare for the onslaught of customer questions that will obviously inundate them. The iPhone exclusivity has been a feather in the cap of AT&T’s for a few years, and for anyone wanting that device, AT&T reigns supreme. For business, the blackberry is an invaluable tool, and the email push cannot be denied as the most significant advantage RIM has on the entire market. No one does email better. That being said, there must be some credence to the device being a worthy competitor or else AT&T would never have prepared a pre-emptive strike against it. Looking forward, I am actually thinking about the storm to replace my curve, at the least, I am rather curious about OS 4.7, and all the enhancements they have added to it.
Only time will tell, but for me Blackberry is the way to go, and the latest and greatest is always what I want in my pocket.
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This is sour grapes, no different than the request that Wi Max be scrutinized.
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