Verizon BlackBerry Storm Los Angeles Launch Party
4:09PM: You know the drill — we’re all up in this mothersucker! Not much to update y’all on yet, we’re currently standing in a surprisingly long line even though the event doesn’t kick off until 7:30PM PST. Anyone that’s at the event, er, waiting in line, hit us up! We’ll continue to update this post though out the evening.
4:28PM: Alright, we’re still standing in line, and much to our surprise, we haven’t seen one single BlackBerry user. Quite a few iPhones, some Blackjacks, couple Verizon LG phones, but absolutely no BlackBerrys. In fact, most of the people in line are just waiting to see a free Foo Fighters show. Suckaz.
4:41PM: After further examination, we’re now seeing a bunch of BlackBerry Curves. What’s hilarious is that the iPhone users are cradling the devices in their hands, to almost conceal them from the generation public. Sort of like they’re violating the code of ethics of attending a BlackBerry launch party. There’s also 4 people in line checking out BGR from their phones… Nice!
5:09PM: Now Verizon reps are coming down the line to make sure everyone has the proper text alerts for entry. Names will be checked on the list later, and if you’re on it, the lucky guys and gals will receive badges.
5:33PM: Got our badge! The Verizon chick didn’t want us to take a picture of it out of fear that “people would print them out and try and get into the event.” Riiiight. Let’s put it like this… anyone that can take that 440px wide photo above, print it out, and actually scam their way into the event deserves to make it in.
6:14PM: A lovely Verizon representative said, “Once you see the Storm’s screen and video playback, you will shit your pants.” She said we could quote her.
6:44PM: We were just told that only roughly 500 badges have been given out so far. Any BGR readers out there that are thinking of coming down and have the official information to enter can still come through and most likely get in!
6:57PM: The line is now down to Hollywood Blvd and wrapping around as we can see. We just sent a runner down to go check it out.
7:19PM: Our runner is back (now do you see how long the line is?) and the line wraps all the way around the block as far as the eye can see. There’s also absolutely no parking anywhere close by. Have fun.
7:31PM: We’ve got a hands on! First impressions are that the touch screen isn’t that great. The technology is cool, and the localized haptic feedback is impressive, but… it kind of seems like a pain to use?
7:34PM: The screen is absolutely gorgeous. We’d even say possibly better than the Bold! Now, the device is not running a final software build, but there’s a lot of missed touch inputs and the touch sensitivity is really terrible. There’s also a ton of lag when touching the screen. We’re going to try and mess with the touch settings in Options.
7:37PM: Sooooo many people waiting to get a hands on. There’s only 4 demo devices total here.
7:40PM: The place is packed! Pretty good execution with the event so far. Good job, VZW!
7:45PM: Our main man right here checking out the Storm just echoed our first early impressions: the screen is beautiful but he’s really not feeling the whole “Touch-Click” thing. He’s complaining about the touch screen missing events and being laggy.
7:50PM: Here’s a live shot of the device with the Verizon-branded home screen. And yes, we’re totally hoggin’ the crap out of the device and our VZW peeps are super cool with it! The reps have stated the phone is “coming before the Holidays.”
7:52PM: These are honestly the coolest reps we’ve ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Though, when we asked the resolution of the Storm (you know, as a test) they replied, “the resolution and stuff is like what a BlackBerry does.” Someone get Jeff Foxworthy on the phone! Sorry, but you’re not smarter than a Fifth grader!
7:54PM: And, our last update before we start getting our drank on!
7:55PM: Here’s a shot of the crowd getting ready for the performances to start. Everyone in line to play with the Storm has promptly headed towards the stage.
7:59PM: For all you sick freaks that want to see a BlackBerry Storm with its pants down…
8:01PM: Me with one of the Verizon honeys. Chick-a-chick-a-ficka-yeeeeah!
8:03PM: We’ve got a side shot here of the BlackBerry Storm, and we do have to say, it feels good when you hold it. Though, it does feel a tad bit cheap, we’re sure we could get over that if the darn touch screen wasn’t so laggy. BG just told me this is what he experienced when he used the device a while ago, so we’re really hoping the final software build will rectify this problem.
8:08PM: Backside of the Storm. The metal back cover is a really nice touch — feels great. If only Verizon had about 100 Purell bottles handy we wouldn’t feel so skeeved out about this thing.
8:12PM: Show is finally about to start! The crowd went wild when the announcer started talking about BlackBerry. Queens of the stone age is up first!
8:14PM: Last ambiance shot before the show starts and all hell breaks loose.
8:19PM: Queens of the stone age is rockin’ the house big time!
8:31PM: Another shot of QOTSA performing.
8:36PM: Foo Fighters coming on a half-hour! Ugh! Hittin’ up the bar for more BlackBerry-themed drinkz.
8:40PM: Nope! Foo Fighters delayed until 10PM now. Oh well.
8:55PM: Foo Fighters finally on stage! They are rockin’ pretty hard and the crows is loving them.
9:10PM: One more shot of Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters performing.
9:21PM: And that’s all she wrote, folks! Foo Fighters just finished their set and this shindig is officially over. Thanks so much for tuning into our coverage!
Listen just because you all think jobs is a god and now that Apple has Finally gotten into the smartphone market doesnt mean you can knock on a well established smartphone company that wait has been around for 24 years developing smartphones and making them what they are today. The iPhone has been in the market for what 2 years now. iPhone users have no right to knock on any other company ESPECIALLY RIM b/c they are just babies in the smartphone world. Everyone seems to be the highest authority on the storm. I’m gonna say one thing. WAIT TILL ITS RELEASED AND LET EVERYONE MAKE THEIR OWN DECISION. I’m tired of people knocking on other companies especially RIM. I have had 3 blackberries and I have never once experienced any kind of problem that my buddy who has an iPhone has, and believe me I push my blackberry to the limit and he barely uses his iPhone compared to me. All I’m saying is in ten years we will all probably be saying “you remember the iPhone?”, not “you remember the storm?”
Hey…stfu with the fanboyism…just like niggas calling kettles black…and take that iPhone outta your ass.
ive been watching this blog all night , and everything was all good. like the storm just wanted to hear what people had to say, then i get up to see what i missed. and you got this faggot online calling people niggas. if you cant go to the hood , or saying nigga to some random black person, then just dont say it at all. face it. your a tech geek. theres no other reason you posting on here. do us all a favor and dont play internet gangster . stick to the topic bitch boy,
I think Marc was trying to enter the Verizon chic’s number and the screwed it up – now he’s blaming the lag for not getting laid….
Looks like the build they had sucked. Will RIM fix it? Who knows. But some comments cast some doubt in these reports from Marc, BG and others who were there, as well as the hands on reviews.
One guy said the Bold is crap? My neighbor is a RIM SE and I’ve played with his Bold (he had it all summer as a tester) a few times. Screen is freaking gorgeous. Build quility is very good, and the keyborad is RIMs best yet. If you don’t like the Bold, you must hate all Blackberries. So whatever that poster said…I’ll dismiss as BB hate.
Next, everyone comparing the Storm to the iPhone, well typing on an iPhone blows. I’d ebay that s**t if somebody gave me a free one. Totally inadequate for e-mail, or any business use. I was hoping the Storm approach would be better for typing. I didn’t think it would be as good as Apple’s for the other touch based functions, but hoped it wouldn’t suck either. We’ll see when it is released.
FYI on the Bold, they are available to handle at your local Best Buy now. Checked mine yesterday. Also looked at the Sprint HTC Touch Pro. Touch Pro has an awesome keyboard, but the build quality seemed crappy. It could be the effect of a store demo, but both units I looked at seemed like the keyboard was very loose. Also checked the Nokia E71, which is the most impressive piece of mobile hardware I have ever seen. It makes an iPhone look like garbage. Wasn’t operational, but damn, that thing is built well, and they keyboard was excellent.
Here’s Marks post…then his tune drastically changes… something fishy…. this site isn’t credible agreed?
On Oct 29, 2008 @ 11:24 pm, Marc Flores Said:
So far guys, the screen is f*ing amazing and the resolution is great! The touch is cool and the whole screen actually presses down. It is a nice glass screen from the feel of things. Will post more impressions later! Can’t comment when the band is rocking, really! But so far, impressions are GOOD.
@ Marc
You are catching a lot of shit for your earlier comments on the Storm when I believe its crystal clear that you thought the screen was simply amazing but the touchscreen wasn’t and it wasn’t easy typing on it either. I’ve read all the other reviews on the other blog sites as well, and they all stated that the screen was impressive and the touchscreen was the best in class and it was the fastest touchscreen phone to enter text on. I don’t know if I can believe that because I am blazing fast entering text on my iPhone 3G, and Crackberry Kevin said in his review “Will I be able to type as fast on this keyboard as on my full-QWERTY BlackBerry or will the touchscreen slow me down? My answer…. You will be slower, but it shouldn’t be by too much.”
The fact that he made the statement above obviously tells me that you’ll be pretty slow texting on the Storm because I type light years faster than everyone I know on my iPhone 3G and most of them praise themselves on how fast they type because they have a hardware full qwerty keyboard on their blackberry, sidekick lx, and various wm devices. So I understand what you mean when you say that the Storm isn’t the best to type on but the screen is amazing to look at and watch videos on. I agree with you though, I think its ridiculous to buy a phone just to stare in awe at how “gorgeous” the screen looks and how nice video playback is on it. Hopefully, all these issues that you and BG are having will be fixed before launch, but I personally doubt that anyone can fix a phone that has that many problems before a launch of December 25th (most likely sometime in November).
As for all the Apple haters and even the Blackberry haters, Not everyone adores Steve Jobs like how you think. I just happen to own an iPhone 3G because I think it is the best converged device on the market right now available on a carrier for MY wants and needs. I am very open to the fact of switching to another phone and carrier. I personally believe Verizon is the best in the business as far as coverage and reliability goes. So if the iPhone/iPhone 3G were to launch on Verizon, I would be with Verizon, simple… BG and Marc have NEVER shown that they are bias to any particular carrier or phone in anyway. They might tease and make fun of a certain carrier or phone because the joke is funny but that’s where it ends. BG’s site is the best out of all these other blog sites and I just don’t understand why you guys would ever come at him like that. But hey, if that’s what you guys choose to do then so be it. I hope BG continues to bring the coverage like he has been for all these years. And anyone who thinks that a “Your trying to kiss BG’s ass.” *no homo* or “You are just as bias as BG and Marc.” You guys obviously don’t get it…
@ BG
Keep doing your thing man cause I love your site. I check it EVERYDAY…
Now on to the questions… lol
1. Can it run apps in the background?
2. Was it slow at ALL text input? Or just texting?
3. How was the browser? Please rate it compared to all the major mobile browsers out there currently.
4. Do you think software changes will fix the touchscreen’s problems before launch? Or is it simply a hardware issue and won’t be fixed, unless RIM corrects the hardware?
5. Where do you get the most lag from?
6. Just how good is the screen? Everyone praises it but what screen is better than it?
So I sat here soon as I got in to work and read every single blog post from Marc…then proceeded to read every single comment cause, you know, that’s what I do with Storm posts to see what people are saying, who’s being an idiot, and who’s making sense. Now on to my comments.
@ Marc, thanks for the coverage…highly appreciated. I know that you are entitled to your own opinions and have the right since this blog belongs to BGR but if you can sit here and say that the Storm sucks then I don’t know there is something wrong. Now I haven’t had any first hands on experience with the device but over 30 other reviewers have. If one blog site says it basically sucks (sans the screen and video playback) and everyone else says otherwise…who has their heads up someone’s ass…the over 30 people or the one guy? Be honest with yourself. Even CNet complimented the device when Bonnie Cha spoke on it. CNet never has its head up anyone’s ass because they feel the iPhone is a marvel in itself but they are objective enough to say that the Voyager trumped the original iPhone in terms of features but the Dare and Instinct falls short in comparison to the iPhone 3G. They said they were impressed with the clickthrough screen and they probably used the same build as you guys since that is the same one that has been circulating all this time I presume.
Marc you sit here and say that you were at first impressed with the device when you first used it because the Verizon reps pushed the screen and video playback capabilities until you went back and used it again then you didn’t like its responsiveness and touch features. Your blog posts only show you not liking the device and nothing else. However, your comment shows that you liked it before and hated it after. Why doesn’t your blog post reflect this because if you liked it before you would’ve stated it for everyone to see yet that has only been relagated to the comments section…leading me to believe that it is a biased blog post only meant to showcase your disdain for the phone. If you liked it first that should’ve been the first thing posted. And you claim you only hated the other parts of the phone after everyone stepped away from the phone and you went back to use it during the performance. HOWEVER, TAYLOR HAWKINS JUST INFORMED US THAT “BB Storm demo models were gone after the music started and never returned.” SOOO IF THEY DISAPPEARED WHEN AND HOW DID U GET YOUR HANDS ON THEM AGAIN??? Or did you instruct the cute reps to bring it back out for your special usage, which is highly unlikely because all you said was that you went back to the device since everyone else was busy listening to the concert. SOO UMMM…It is either you’re lying because BG told you not to go against him or because you don’t want the Boss to fire you. OR because you’ve just reverted back to the usual BGR fanboy image of bashing RIM and praising Apple. Or maybe Taylor is completely wrong and the models were available all nite. With all the discrepancies and shadyness in this post I’d favor the former.
It really makes it hard to take you guys seriously when you are the ONLY blog site condemning the Storm and even some Apple sites are praising some of its accomplishments. Be realistic instead of saying stuff like “I’d totally ebay it if I got one free tonight”. That just makes you sound like an employee trying not to get fired for going against his boss and then realizing the error in his ways.
DISCLAIMER: I’ve never owned a blackberry or an iPhone. I’ve used both and know their strengths and drawbacks. I’m a WinMo fan for its compatibility and costumization but I know its drawbacks as well.
btw you can’t point out people for taking their iphones and whatnot to this event when you clearly did the same thing. You guys have repeatedly said how all of you use Blackberrys and iPhones so what message were you trying to send by taking your iPhone with you instead of the blackberry? Clearly you couldn’t shoot any videos with your iPhone so what was its function there?? you guys and your subliminal messages and such…cute. And I’m not overanalyzing…I’m just a critical observer
I don’t understand. If you don’t like the BGR review, then don’t read it. Why post so much hatred. These are personal opinions, there is no right and wrong.
BGR’s negative review is not going to make me throw away my BB, I’ll try it out myself and make my decision.
I don’t think BGR is anti BB. If I remember correctly when he (or a member of the group) compared Curve with iPhone, the curve was the winner for corporate/email purposes.
I have a MAC and love it, but am not impressed with iPhone.
Stop the hatred
I guess RIM allowed the real bloggers a chance to play with their more up to date unit..
They gave the iphone loving steve jobs sucking losers teh fisher price model to play with.
Congrats guys on your fine RIM bashing – 9 out of 10 reviews say the phone/ touchscreen is unbelievable http://www.iboygeniusreport.com says it sucks
@Mr. HD…that’s way too many questions for someone who used it for only 30mins. And you’re delusional if you think you can type faster than any person with a full on qwerty keyboard. Even BG’ll tell you that’s a lie and he loves the iPhone. I think BGR is the best also…I just see a little bias in their Storm posts like it is posing a threat to the greatest phone they ever used, the iPhone. And if you want to make that, “I want a phone I can use and not just stare at” argument that can also be applicable with the iPhone as well because aside from the UI and design it lags heavily on features and functionality compared to other smartphones. Just to put you on notice.
@ likeabite
1. Its not too many questions. Keep in mind who I am asking here, its BG not a lame. If he couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t have asked him the questions.
2. I am definitely not delusional to say that I can type faster than everyone I know on a qwerty keyboard. I never said any person. Please read my comment properly before you make a comment like that…
3. I personally don’t see any bias in their 1st official hands on with the Storm. In time, they will have a review unit and they will be able to review the Storm on with a final build and then we will all see how the Storm performs.
4. You are right, the iPhone has many flaws compared to other smartphones such as blackberry and wm phones. But it excels with multimedia and ease of use like no other phone that I’ve ever used does. And I love the app store idea. It works well for my needs, that’s why I enjoy it.
I think your getting the wrong idea from me. As I said before, I favor Verizon as a carrier and I also enjoy Blackberrys. I even bought my brother a curve for T-Mobile (his carrier, not mine) and it works very well. Blackberry for the most part = email/messaging. iPhone = multimedia/ease of use/(and with the arrival of the app store) apps. I do understand where your coming from though, you enjoy BG’s site as well and you personally believe that this time around, he was a little bias and that’s fine. I personally don’t… It’s ok to disagree, but I bet after you play with the Storm yourself, you will understand why BG and Marc made the comments they did.
@ likeabite
Oh yeah, and one thing I forgot to tell you, I don’t know if you read my earlier posts before about me actually hoping for the Storm to be a great phone because I have been thinking about getting a new phone since I’ve done the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G from day one. I have been considering switching to Verizon for a while now because I favor them over AT&T, but I will not do this until they release a phone that suits me as well or better than my iPhone 3G, they have yet to do this and until they do this, they will not have my business. I expected BG to love the Storm but since they don’t, I am cautious to sign a contract with Verizon and get the Storm until I play with it and put it through my personal testing process.
Just thought you’d like to know that info…
@EVERYONE We’re not the only ones that felt this way about the phone. Again, I’m sticking with the what I said. Screen clarity and resolution is great, but touch sensitivity and navigation sucked. So what if other blogs and sites said the touch was perfect? That was NOT MY EXPERIENCE last night. Apparently, people at a Blackberry Developers Conference thought the same:
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=RSLWKYB4EN5UQQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=211600037
“Both companies provided demonstrations of Storm prototypes at the conference, but they refused to allow pictures or videos to be taken of the phones because the software still has many glitches. In a short demo of one phone, the device responded erratically to touch screen commands on several occasions, although it never crashed or froze up. ”
Yup, sounds pretty much spot on with my experience last night.
@ Marc
I read that as well. I don’t understand why people are still trying to act like your changing up your opinion. It was clear as day what your experiences were with the Storm and they were lukewarm at best due to the problems you experienced.
@ Marc no one said that the device couldn’t have had problems. It is not the final build so that is expected. What we’re saying is your drastic tone from the initial impression to later on, which someone has even said that there was no later on because they removed the demo versions during the concert. The touch screen not being great is a far departure “I’d sell it on ebay”. Somethings just off-kilter that’s all.
I’m reading all the previous stuff and just flabbergasted that some people here are so harsh.
Fact – the 4 phones were NOT the final product – this was simply a hype-buidling party to get people excited. The reps there probably had 30 minutes prior to the show to play with the Storm – just like the people there.
The phone will be out in a couple weeks and THEN we can all make a decision based on the FINAL product.
Stop all the bashing…its very tiresome…
Yeah, I was pretty harsh in what I felt about the post, especially by saying I wanted to eBay it. But seriously, I don’t know why RIM would have put out 4 or 5 shoddy beta devices last night for people to test out. All the reps did was push the video and screen. Every device was being watched with scrutiny by the reps and it seems like every time I wanted to get into the settings, find the OS version, or do anything beyond pics and video, they’d try to snatch the device away from me. “Oh, other people want to look at it, too.” Right. Why is it I was able to watch full length movie trailers (which looked GREAT, by the way) but if I wanted to take 5 seconds to bang out an SMS, they’d snatch the device from my hands? Same with e-mail, apps, settings, and pretty much everything non-media.
So yeah, if they gave me a free device last night and it was exactly like the demo models, I certainly would have sold it. Most consumers, those who were there just for the rock and roll, had trouble navigating the device and found that there was a steep learning curve with the device. Most of them didn’t think it was very intuitive and the reps did little to help them beyond showing videos.
Not hating on Blackberry or RIM, but I came away very, very unimpressed last night.
@ Marc I understand where you’re coming from. I mean if the product is not ready they shouldn’t push it out. Maybe the final build isn’t ready, hence the delay and the ones you got your hands on. But if it’s lag and responsiveness issues don’t you think they can easily be fixed and thus doesn’t deserve such a scathing review?
Wow. Marc is an enormous douche.
You really need to get laid, dude. Your blatant fanboyism is really unprofessional, even for a blog that lacks a shred of journalistic integrity.
Was the review about the Verizon chicks or the phone LOL!!! This dude has to be a virgin. I think they have an opening for the pick up artist show. LOL!!!
What a tool. Notice he liked it at first and then was probably shitfaced and couldn’t touch the screen right….+1 for douche.
If you had some basic reading comprehension skills, you’d see that I didn’t do a 180. I was unimpressed with the phone, then I said I liked the screen and the image quality was good, but finished with saying I didn’t like the device overall.
Actually…at the beginning..I think we were all clear how you felt. Your back peddling now…have another one.
Wow. You little boys need to stop with personal attacks, grow up, its a brief experience phone review, he isnt saying your moms apple pie sucked.
im a long term vzw bberry user, I had an iphone 3g and gave it back because i had crappy service in manhattan, wanted to check the storm out, and most of my friends have berries, and bbmessenger is great for us to stay connected without expensive text service. if there was a special iphone messenger between iphones and didnt drop calls it might have made me keep it.
this phone will def be an upgrade for current bb/vzw users, however if the OS is buggy when released like marc experienced, most would be hard pressed to make an immediate jump with out thinking of other options. i might even go with a curve if it does actually disappoint me. point is dont make an assertion something will be totally awesome or suck, with blinders on.
PS if anyone hears of a NYC shindig, give me a shout