Some screen shots from Vodafone-branded Blackberry Storm emerge
Some purported screen shots of Vodafone-branded Blackberry Storm have emerged today. If you believe what you see is for real, then you may be a bit disappointed. The resolution on the screen is quite nice but the interface, well, looks just like a Blackberry. Should we be surprised by that? The calendar, email, and browser look incredibly text-based for a touchscreen device that promises to take the world by Storm. Where are all the pretty icons that we can tap on? Let’s hope these images are only a small sample and the rest of the UI is significantly better than what is shown. Otherwise, this is one Storm that may just go out to sea. Hit the jump for some more pictures.
Thanks, Matt!
The keyboard touchpad on the iPhone is horrible. For serious e-mail use the iPhone is completely inadequate. What RIM is proposing (will wait to see how it works in practice) would be a major improvement. The one thing you DO NOT WANT is overly sensitive touchscreen keys, that’s where all the problems come in.
“listen, in my humble opinion this will dethrown the iphone as the best touch device*. I love my iphone, but will be going back to blackberry for this
*reasoning; iphone doesn’t have any long term sustainable points of differentation (read push email and the benefits of the push based technology) – the largest differentiator/advantage the iphone had was its great browser, and the bold and new browsers are already close to or as good as the safari browser (I would say close) – apple better keep leveraging its true competitive advantage (marketing/hype) if it wants to remain relevant”
The reality is the that HTC Touch HD is probably the best all touch device. I am wildly skeptical of any touch screen keyboard for e-mail, and I think RIM will get that right if anyone does. The iPhone’s keyboard sucks.
MY bold is working amazing and its been what I have been waiting for. [3G,wifi,GPS] all in one with a wicked clear screen is perfect.
I am not a fan of this touch keyboard… but I guess we will see once the masses have their fingerprints all over the screen : )
They say vodafone screen shots but the video shot say 1xEV?
I am tired of people saying that RIM starting making the storm because of the iPhone, and they got scared, so that had to make one.
Remember that every Blackberry is three years in the making. That means that the iPhone and Storm were both being created before the iPhone was released.
Can we get a screen shot of the Copy/Paste functionality? I bet it works nice.
Big Bob Joy love, if BG spent more time giving leaked info and less time bashing Verizon you would have learned the size of the device. From other sites I found the Storm size is 0.1mm wider and 1.65mm thicker than an iPhone 3G (the basis for BG comparisons). That makes the Storm about the same as the iPhone 3G in size.
Curve Size: 106.68 X 60.96 x 15.24 mm
Storm Size: 112.52 x 62.2 x 13.95 mm
iPhone 3G Size: 115.5 X 62.1 X 12.3mm
Crunch, the Verizon docs list a choice of 3 keyboards – qwerty, sure-type and keypad. Just because they are showing the sure-type in one picture doesn’t mean that’s the only option. If you visit the UK site that actually leaked these photos you will find many more photos than BG posted in this thread. Some of the other photos show other keyboard options.
I’m not sure why BG left off several photos. But I don’t understand why BGR does a lot of things like being anti-Verizon & anti-Storm.
I. W. O. O. T. !!!!
anyway, if the touch keyboard is crappy just get your self one these shiny USB Laser projecktion keyboards…
nice one RIM
BGR scooped again by another site. Maybe everyone is right about BGR not getting the scoop on the Storm because they are known to bash everything Verizon.
Engadget has training docs showing possible release date of the Storm. Its a date we expected but at least this is more confirmation.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/26/verizon-training-schedule-hints-at-blackberry-storm-touch-diam/
Hey I think the device is so nice and this is bad news to the iphone coz RIM is here to stay
Where is the BOLD???
Likeabite said:
And Evilhomer you always say that Blackberry and Verizon fans this, but clearly you are also a fan of Apple and AT&T as well so don’t knock anyone for their preferences. It is not like I’ve ever seen you posted a comment that solely praised Verizon or the Storm without critism or bringing in the iphone. The posts you say you read about people who have actually used this phone could be as phony as the pics shown above, written by people who just want attention or want to garner interest. Just like how we require proof of anything Boy Genius reports in some form or fashion like the person who claimed he got paid to use the Storm in the mall, unless there was a video or pictures attached to the post you read then it can’t be counted as cridible.
You are actually mistaken. I do not care for AT&T’s network as much as I do Verizon’s. However, I do not care for Verizon’s lack of global support and I believe that offering ONE device that I can travel to Europe with is not acceptable to most international business travelers as myself. Verzion has a very good network, but, IMO, a lousy selection of devices. Especially the corporate users. All of their current RIM devices are “last years” models and have been locked down in some fashion. Such as wifi or GPS. Again, I like the network but my gripe about the phones is certainly not a lone voice. Lack of good, current corporate devices has been a long standing complaint in the VZW community.
As far as saying anything “good” about the Storm, I can only respond “how can I”? I haven’t used or seen the device. I can only say that what I see here is the same ol’ BB with a dressed up OS and some hardware made to mimic the iPhone. Based on what I read in forums such as Pinstack. com and Blackberry.com after the iPhone was released was that the overwhelming opinions posted were that RIM users would not use or accept anything other than a physical keyboard. That was the consensus all the way up to the leaked info on the Storm. Then they did as big of a turn around as the CEO of RIM about their feelings toward touch screens.
For the record. I love Apple products. I like the iPhone a lot but recognize it’s short comings. I wouldn’t use it if the pluses didn’t out weigh the negatives. I’d rather it be on Verizon. The worst thing about the iPhone is the network that it is on. In fairness, that’s not Apple’s fault but Verizon’s for passing on it in the first place.
Now I believe that Apple is one of the most innovated consumer technology company in the world and I believe that they are owed a pat on the back from all cell phone enthusiast for helping revolutionize the industry and raising the bar so high that other manufacturers are scrambling to produce other products of an equal hand hopefully superior caliber. Do I think the Storm is that product? No. Why? Because RIM is not really known for innovation and forward thinking. They have been way behind the curve in providing new features such as GPS, bluetooth and wifi. Hell, it hasn’t even been THAT long since they introduced a COLOR screen. And those few few were so low res that it made you wonder “why bother?”. Although many NEW RIM devices have some of those features now, it came long after Palm and WM devices were doing it. RIM has been consistent in delivering steady and reliable email service (when they aren’t jacking up their own servers) but they have NOT been innovators when it comes to hardware and software.
Also, for the record, I am excited to see the Storm release. I am very hopeful that it will be such a great device as to give me a reason to return to VZW. I am, however, very skeptical since VZW and Sprint have been dangling the “iPhone killers” for over a year now and have come up empty. I am also doubtful that the iPhone killer is going to come from RIM for the statements previously stated. I am HOPEFUL, but unlike many of you, aren’t ringing the death toll just yet for a device that hasn’t made it to the shelves yet. I take issue with all of the “haters” using the pending release of this device as an excuse to bash on the iPhone. Or to bash on BGR for pointing out “potential” flaws with the Storm. He’s not the only credible blog doing so. Gizmodo posted an article yesterday that expressed the same concerns that BGR wrote about here. It’s silly for everyone to run to the defense of a device that they haven’t even used! Some people here are going to feel like real dipshits for bashing BGR and so one if they actually do get the Storm and wind up not liking it. And that IS going to happen in many cases. OR you will find yourselves using and excusing the device’s flaws BECAUSE you made such a big deal defending it. That’s the same thing that iPhone users have been accused of doing. And I admin, some of them have.
On a final note, to all of you who keep saying that iPhone is not supplying a real push mail solution… have any of you even HEARD of Exchange? This device supports REAL push mail from Exchange. Exchange is that service that MANY IT departments such as mine are moving to because they are tired of paying RIMS licensing and additional hardware costs for the servers and who are also tired of the extra taxing of the Exchange servers that the BB server causes due to the continual syncing. Just FYI, RIM may still be the current leader of email solutions, but keep in mind, I can remember when PALM was the king of the PDA/Smartphone world. Things change VERY quickly in the world of technology.
james Said:
I am tired of people saying that RIM starting making the storm because of the iPhone, and they got scared, so that had to make one.
Remember that every Blackberry is three years in the making. That means that the iPhone and Storm were both being created before the iPhone was released.
You are wrong. The iPhone was in R&D for five years before the launch, which put’s it two years BEFORE your supposed time frame of when RIM started working on this device. You are delusional if you think that this device was not developed in response to the mass appeal and success of the iPhone. Why is it so hard for anyone to at least credit Apple with motivating and inspiring the industry as a whole to do better?
@abcyesn
Sick of waiting? Are you kidding me? VZW didn’t release anything on it to the general public until the 15th (ELEVEN DAYS AGO!!!). My assumption is you are some little kid in middle school (that can’t afford to get it anyway) that couldn’t think of anything better to say bc you can’t even figure out what everyone else is talking about…. ugh!
Doesn’t matter that the iPhone was in R&D for 5 years or 3. The point is, that RIM was working on the Storm before the first iPhone was released, about 18 months ago.
iPhone was still just a rumor up until about when it was released. And no one had any idea of what it would like like. I remember seeing renditions that looked like an iPod classic with a rotary styled number pad where the iPod controls would normally be. Just like the Storm was a rumor until VZW started leaking/annoucing it like crazy these past few weeks. I doubt that RIM would start making a phone to respond to another companies phone on a rumor.
Also remember that there were other touch devices out there before the iPhone, so please do not make it seem like the iPhone broke ground. I do credit Apple for raising the bar, which is all they did. But you have to be close minded to think RIM started the Storm in response to the iPhone, when the iPhone wasn’t even out when RIM was in the middle of R&D.
On another note, IMO, I think that VZW didn’t pass up on the iPhone because of the LG Voyager, or what ever the LG phone was at the time. I think VZW passed on the iPhone because of the Storm. Time frame fits anyway, I think.
What I’m surprised people aren’t saying is that as a Verizon customer, maybe we just want a “new” phone that hasn’t been available to other providers for 2 years. I’m not going to drop coin on a Curve from Verizon when it’s hardware is nearing its date of obsolescence.
I’d like to get the Bold and maybe I will when it comes to Verizon in 2010.
The advantage of a clickscreen, IMHO, is that it offers a shorter learning curve for business users who are used to a physical keyboard. Ask any fat-fingered, middle-aged white guy what’s their biggest peeve on a touchscreen, and they’ll tell you that they keep pressing the wrong keys.
On a capacitive touch screen (like the iPhone and Storm) you’ll frequently be hovering with your fingers and “activating” adjacent keys. By requiring a push, the Storm can more accurately determine which letter/key you wanted to press and display the result.
The proof is, as they say, in the pudding, so hopefully after press day we can have all the reviewers’ opinions about which touchscreen device has the better keyboard.
Let me just say one more thing to the Verizon-haters, RIM-haters, iPhone-haters and AT&T-haters clogging the commentspace on this and every mobile blog. I wish BGR had a comment search feature where we could search on what people have written. Over 4 months ago, before anyone had even seen what Storm looked like, I said that anyone looking for an iPhone killer from the BlackBerry people would be sorely disappointed. I said that the Storm would be a BlackBerry first, and would appeal to BlackBerry customers first.
Now Verizon and RIM are going to do a great job marketing this device to business users and consumers alike. Naturally, they are going to prompt comparisons to the iPhone, and there are clear areas where the iPhone will win overwhelmingly with consumers. Naturally, there are areas where the Storm will win with business-users. Each device will play to the core strengths of its maker–Apple is a consumer electronics, software, and computer hardware company (in that order if you look at the balance sheet). RIM is an email, enterprise mobility and smartphone vendor. They’ve made significant inroads to the consumer market, and the Storm will continue that trend, but they do not design and build devices exclusively for consumers. They build business devices with consumer functionality, and Apple builds consumer devices with some business functionality.
@Verizon Guy: “there are clear areas where the iPhone will win overwhelmingly with consumers”
Can you please list those areas?
My only dissapointment with this phone is that it won’t come to T-Mobile. I didn’t think that I really would want one, but seeing this I think I do. I have no desire for an iPhone, but a BB with the larger touchscreen seems like a good upgrade from my Curve. Any ideas if T-Mobile will ever get this?
@ Intosh:
Well let’s see:
- iTunes/iPod integration
- slick Quartz UI
- tons of free apps/games on AppStore
Those would be the 3 biggies.
I emailed the sales rep at ATT in charge of our corporate account. He said 30 days for the Bold. This is in line with the rumors of a November launch.
@Verizon Guy
The RIM App store with tons of apps is coming.
The UI is a higher res then the IPhone ans slicker, easier to use.
The Storm can sync with Itunes.
What else you want to throw out there?
so how are your mom and I supposed to send naked pics of each other on a cup and string
It’s not coming out on at&t… It’s a Verizon exclusive, permanently.