The real story behind the Verizon BlackBerry Storm OS?
I want to preface this by saying that the following statements are my opinions and hypotheses, and have not be confirmed nor denied by any of sources of mine or official contacts at either corporation. It should serve as a nice little “conspiracy theory,” though. Here’s the deal:
- When we met with Verizon and RIM about the Storm, we asked about the software version. They confirmed it to be 4.7.0.65. We had heard otherwise, just like most of you, and didn’t understand why that OS version was so low when versions up to .90 were being talked about, and some demo units in stores showing .75 or higher.
- We believed this to be a non-final OS and was partly why we thought the OS would get better before release.
- We reported of a Storm shortage last night because of a last minute glitch.
- We think that 4.7.0.82, the version of the Storm box I got from Verizon directly was the cause of the glitch, and instead of a new version being flashed on Storms, what they were in fact doing was downgrading the OS to 4.7.0.65.
Now, why would we say that Verizon has downgraded these units? Do we know this for a fact? Absolutely not, and we said that above. None of this has been confirmed to us at all, but here’s the kicker… check on your Verizon BlackBerry Storm box where the product label is. It should say Version: 4.7.0.65, right? Well, after looking at a box from a Verizon store just now, I noticed a couple layers of stickers. I decided to peel those off, and what did I find? A product label underneath with version 4.7.0.82! So, they realized that there was possibly a huge security vulnerability they couldn’t fix in time, started flashing the units with the .65 software in order to not miss the release date, thus the cause of the shortages, the limited stock, and the direct fulfillment units not shipping until December the 5th. Go ahead, you know you want to peel back those product labels with yellow stickers! Let us know in the comments, ok? The pictures are after the break!
You sir would be correct in your assumptions.
I didn’t get one, but after hearing the negative reviews, I’ll wait until the .65 bugs are worked out.
thank god i didnt get mine today!!!
RIM is so incompetent, they should have never released this version in the first place.
Great detective work, BGR! Props to you.
Does this mean the Dec 5 units will have the updated OS? That would stink for the early adopters.
stfu you lame little fan boy. Good thing the iPhone shipped flawlessly right out of the box………………….. oh wait.
Yes Joe, RIM is known for being an incompetent company with lax security. They should have just released the insecure version and then patched the holes. Its not like another company just plugged a dozen or more in their ‘enterprise’ ready mobile entertainment unit, sometimes passable PHONE.
talked to a verizon rep at the local best buy and they said that the folks getting them now would have to go to the vzw website and download a fix. Should be available in a couple of weeks.
At least the phones that we all received as early adopters don’t have those security flaws, we should be happy with that that the phone wasn’t given to us with those flaws. I’m content with the fact that they took the time to down-grade those devices instead of selling handsets that were flawed. The situation would have been worse if they just ignored the issue and handed out Storms with a “flaw”.
Interesting observation…what is confusing (or perhaps just coincidental) is that the current shipping rev is 4.7.065 and platform version is 4.7.0.82. So is it perhaps just confusion in the rev/versions of revs?
Anyway, good catch, I am guessing we will see here in the next few days…
My local VZW store was sold out of the Storm (obviously) but I played with the 2 they had on display and they were really REALLY slow and glitchy. I really wanted this phone to be awesome on release but it is obviously not, and maybe BGR’s explanation is the reason why. Needless to say I am very interested to see what happens over the next couple of weeks.
I went to my Verizon store in Irvine, Ca today. the models they had that you could play around with we’re horrible. The accelerometer worked horribly, i had to turn it and shake and move it several time before the device switched the screen to the landscape or portrait mode. Hopefully this will be fixed when I get my order. They said next week maybe =)
Verizon is a mess…plain and simple. The units I played with in the stores today were bugggy buggy buggy. Really not usable. They were 4.65.
The phone itself was actually cool, but def needs the upgrade. I still would love to have one right now though.
Verizon’s debacle, complete lack of customer service and honesty actually has me considering an iphone. This coming from somebody who’s been eagerly awaiting this release for months. I still want the Storm, but the damn carrier releasing it is giving me second thoughts.
I’m definitely going to wait awhile!
C’mon people, everyone deserves to make mistakes, even Microsoft released software with flaws, machined are designed and made by human beings and we all make mistakes. Whoever got the device today should be proud and enjoy it. I was not one of the lucky ones but fortunatelly will be getting it tomorrow.
The two demo phones in the 42nd and 6th Ave store were running .65 and the two demo phones in the Brooklyn Heights store were running .75. Both I found to be sluggish, however the 65 phone when attempting to type really fast gave me what looked like an hour glass…
So then I walked over to the AT&T store and gawked for a bit while deciding what to do.
Got my Storm … first off BGR is right on the OS version. I peel back my sticket and see .82 under the cover.
I just came off using a bold for 2 weeks. And though this is similiar OS – this is mucher slower.
Still happy with phone but waiting on next release of code.
BGR I have been surfing all of the blackberry websites and you sir are the first out of the big three (engadget, BGR, and Crackberry) to report this. I bought (2) from a Orlando Best Buy store today and both only have only one sticker that has software version. 4.7.0.65. and boy does it suck. That version of software has completely ruined my day. I currently have 2 Blackberry Storms that literally will not even make a phone call. Not because of the service, but because the software is so bad it won’t allow me to type a phone number in.
I have been a BB 8800 user for well over a year now and am a huge Blackberry fan, so I’m not some iphone user smashing the Blackberry. I thought that the reason Verizon customers waited for phones was so these things don’t happen. You had to know something was wrong on Wednesday when Engadget reported that their was no compatibility out of the box between Mac’s and Storms. That is completely un-acceptable. I will be patient and wait for a software upgrade, but boy will I hammer Verizon Wireless’s Customer Service who seem to always wilt under pressure from there customers. There’s nothing to say but a huge F- for Verizon today. Tomorrow could be better but today was a nightmare…
ITS TRUE!!! i just peeled back the sticker. I’m pissed but i still love the phone, everyone who has seen it is completely envious. Three hours in line paid off! definately looking forward to that update though!
Correct BG. Verizon was going to ship with a higher build. Until their engineers made a mistake, and finally figured it out. Changes to the code couldn’t be implemented in time, so the lower build was used. I hate to put blame solely one one party, but this was completely missed by Verizon engineers. I can’t go into detail about the exact problem, but testers from the “other” side wouldn’t be able/shouldn’t be able to notice the problem. If Verizon wasn’t so anal about controlling every single minute detail, some of this could’ve been avoided. Regardless, the update is coming fairly soon.
lol…man this is hilarious…first off…i am not a “fanboy” of any product..I have been with Verizon for months now…I have tried 7 of their phones in hopes of finding a decent one…Ended up with the Dare (passable)…Anywayz, I was thinking about getting the Storm…not gunna happen for sure (due to A LOT of reasons). I just got off the phone, porting my number from verizon over to att (got the iphone 3g). Thank GOD i am through with Verizon…They tax for EVERYTHING, including the visual voicemail?? They cripple the shit out of every phone…no wifi on the storm (lmao)…super gay menu themes on every phone…and the funniest thing is…Verizon turned down the iphone, the now top selling smartphone on the market, and has now released a good 4-5 phones which are pretty much “iphone clones”, but don’t even come close. LOL i mean….its freakin hilarious…ONCE AGAIN…note to all geeks: I am not a fanboy…just a dude who has been trying to get a half decent phone for a year now….and have been forced to port out to ATT for the iphone (which is the best in my opinion). Once there is a better phone than the iphone..i will be on it (iphone has its flaws, but its still a damn good phone)…By the way, its real simple to get out of a contract from Verizon: just Google search it…you will find tons of ways (i got out free), and am happy as shit right now…So….basically…I really wanted the Storm…turned out to be over hyped, and over rated…Even with the new OS, it cannot really compete with the iphone…and its freakin hilarious how all these fags get so mad when someone even mentions the iphone…LOL…I mean shit dudes…im sure there will be a gang of fags saying that I am a fanboy, or I love steve jobs..lol…please keep the homosexuality to ur selves fags…if u dont like something, thats cool…everyone has their opinions…don’t get get ur panties in a bunch though…and oh yeah….IPHONE…lol fags
BGR is the place to come for all your Anti-Verizon needs… “Yup, Yup, Yup…” (c) the land before time
So the yellow sticker would let them know that the os was downgraded, and ready to sell. My Storm works great as is but I’m always up for a new os.
I bought the phone today.. quite an embarrassment for a rim device. rotates for no reason, clock displays for no reason, major lag… ugh… i miss my curve already. now we won’t get the bold for a long time.