Story or no story, the Verizon BlackBerry Storm OS has issues
We gave you our theory, we gave you RIM’s official statement and now people, it’s time to move on. The bottom line is that everyone who snagged a Storm from Verizon ended up with v4.7.0.65. The indisputable caveat – v4.7.0.65 has issues. No firmware is perfect and no future firmware revision will ever be completely bug-free, but what we can tell you is that the folks at RIM and Verizon know v4.7.0.65 might be just a little sub-par. How do we know they know? Why else would they be issuing OS updates just a few weeks after releasing the handset? That’s right people, we got our hands on a preliminary internal communique detailing a series of updates coming soon to a Verizon Storm near you. The first in fact, will likely come next week – just a few short weeks after the launch. Basically, RIM and Verizon have targeted a variety of major issues and will address them through a series of OTA software updates. The list below is split up between issues that will definitely be resolved with the first update next week and issues that will be resolved in a second OTA update that will likely arrive later in December. Hit the jump for the break down and rest a bit easier knowing that whether or not the various issues with v4.7.0.65 are deal breakers for you, Verizon and RIM know there are problems are are working to fix them.
Note that the following is not a complete list of issues that will be covered in the upcoming OS updates. Instead, this is a list of issues being circulated internally at Verizon to ensure that employees do not authorize any Certified Like-new device exchanges for customers citing any of the following as their problems… The first is our favorite by far and no, the last one isn’t a joke – it’s really on there.
Issues to be resolved by the first OTA update (Maintenance Release 1) – December, week 1:
- If a customer receives a call while listening to music at low volume using a wired headset, the music volume may suddenly increase to the highest level (!). Interim recovery instructions: Lower the volume using the buttons on the side of the handset.
- When using voice-activated dialing, incoming audio may be muted. Interim recovery instructions: Enter the menu and select “Activate Handset or Speaker”.
- The handset may reset itself while sitting idle or while using multimedia applications. No interim recovery instructions provided.
Issues to be resolved by a subsequent Maintenance Release:
- Customers may intermittently lose email connectivity via CDMA and/or international roaming modes. Interim recovery instructions: Main menu -> Manage Connections -> Select mobile network -> Turn radio off, then Turn radio on. If this does not resolve the issue, pull the battery.
- When powering on the handset, the radio sometimes does not turn on. Interim recovery instructions: Main menu -> Manage Connections -> Select mobile network -> Turn radio on. If this does not resolve the issue, pull the battery.
- Pressing the send key while the device is in landscape mode will open the phone application in portrait mode, but the speed dial function may not work. Interim recovery instructions: Press escape until the home screen appears, then press the send key with the handset in portrait orientation.
- Sometimes entering characters on the virtual keyboard doesn’t work. Interim recovery instructions: Re-select the character.
Thanks, krazyVZW!
@Paul
iPhoners UNITE!!
Played with the demo Storm during two visits. Returned mine NIB. Bought an iPhone. I will miss my 8830 for rapid mail and great calendaring and task scheduling. I pretty sure I won’t miss the Storm I never had.
The simple fact is that despite all efforts Blackberry phones are not user friendly..the interface is designed with redundancy and multiple steps to accomplish a simple task..i was hoping that this character flaw would be fixed with Storm touch screen..alas the hype was just that..hype..i own both the Storm and the 3G iphone..i hated the touchscreen on the iphone..the sensitivity and the typing..but this is so much worse..you cant move the cursor..heck a simple navigation button could have made this phone so much easier to use..sick of pressing the menu button over and over again..and to those siting the issues with the iphone..the wow factor and the ease of use is light yrs ahead of RIM..the basic way apple looks at things is..it should simple to use with minimum input and should be intuitive NOt counterintuitive..WTF is the logic behind suretype..it is absolutely moronic to have this in this day and age..my Treo 650 3 yrs ago was easier to type on..i just sent my STORM packing today..worthless.
I can tell you how to fix all those problems. Buy an iphone.
10,109 iPhone Apps!
@Paul (I’m posting this for a second time so maybe you will take the hint)
If you are going to list numbers, maybe you should list the important number here… the number of those apps that are actually useful.
Give it up already. You and your multiple personalities have lost multiple arguments. Do you really want to continue making yourself look more and more like an idiot? Just stop now and maybe – just maybe – people will in time forget how ignorant you are and you can get a little bit of your dignity back.
“phongsta Said:
Verizon and RIM are calling the pot kettle black… they were making fun of at&t and apple for the activation problems, etc on the iPhone 3G launch day… they had activation problems also but the capacity was no where near as large as Apple/AT&T’s. the BB Storm OS has a lot more bugs then the iPhone 3G at launch. nice one Verizon wireless. and first off, Verizon turned down the iPhone the first time. effers.”
I like when people start putting words in other people’s mouths. VZW insulting AT&T? You sure it was VZW and not the guys like you and me who simply purchase the service? Maybe that’s what you mean. Who knows. Also, the iPhone 3G is a second generation phone. That’s like comparing apples to oranges bub. The second generation storm will more than likely be equivalent to the release of the second generation iPhone. I love the storm. It is a valuable device. So it doesn’t have a crap ton of apps… It’s a BUSINESS PHONE! I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE!!!! that people keep comparing it to a multimedia phone. Come back and start making insults if you are a professional in the work force who needs moderate email attention, a solid calender and other document viewing/editing on the go. Until then, all you iPhone children/self proclaimed adults, stop crying the blues for your iPhone.
(mind you, I think the iPhone is an excellent multi-media device, most definitely not suitable for professionals)
Cheers
@ JustMe:
Are you the new Mayor of the blog? Maybe it is Like-To-Spin making a reappearance under a new name after getting so easily wiped off the blog with facts and being EXPOSED.
I will continue to make a relevant point, that 10,111 iPhone Apps to ZERO for the Storm is important. I have no doubt that if the Storm had any decent apps, it would be pushed just as hard, as the so called BB features are now.
Before you get your shorts in a bunch, realize I OWN a BB on VZW! I am NOT “Like-To-Spin” who just lied and lied complaining about the iPhone he never OWNED and loving a BB he NEVER owned! Geez, the guy even claimed the Zune was better than the iPod he NEVER OWNED!
If you are going to claim that 10,111 iPhone Apps are not important, fine. Soon the iPhone will have more apps than ANY other mobile platform, all whole Storm owners are STILL struggling to get an update to FIX bugs!
I will continue, to point this out whenever I feel like. So either get over it and except this, or shut up.
RIM has copied all it could from the iPhone and is even going to attempt their own app store. So this is quite relevant to the discussion. Sorry you don’t like the results so far!
ONLY BB FANBOYS would claim that 10,111 iPhone Apps is unimportant and try to claim they are all no good, without even trying them. Sure there are some duplicates and stupid apps, but there are 10,111 iPhone Apps and the Storm has basically NONE! RIM after years and years has only about 700.
The iPhone has 10,111 iPhone Apps in only 4 and half months!
Seems to me the lines are already gone for the Storm, the reviews are in and they are NOT good, this blog and many others are full of people who bought the Storm and are having problems with little help from VZW or RIM! Sure BB FANBOYS must have the blues. I am NOT a FANBOY, I own a BB and an iPhone (Nokia and Windows Mobile too).
Yeah man we are so crippled with no SD slot– wait a second– 8gb/16gb standard?
Nevermind.
This place is a bunch of little kids that point fingers and say, “haha my phone is better than yours.” Let’s be honest, the iPhone was in complete disarray when it was launched and years later, it still has problems but got better with updates. The storm has some issues also because it is new technology and everyone that got one now are basically the test subjects for the phones. It will also get better with updates. Stop acting like some damn little kids and pointing fingers over something as insignificant as a smartphone. Also, if someone loves their iphone so much, why waste your time going to articles or sites geared to other smartphone users just to put other phones down. Get a life. Then you wonder why people refer to you as fanboys. You people come off looking completely ridiculous.
@ Maliek…agreed…this is a post about the Storm…thus why do I see nonStorm comments??
@ Maliek:
You said: “Years later!” HAHA The iPhone beat all of RIM in only 15 months, it is ONLY 18 months old, get your facts right. This was Apple’s FIRST phone. In 4 and half months the App Store has 10,111 apps. The latest iPhone 2.2 update added significant features and was not a bug fix as BB Fanboys like twist the truth.
RIM has been making phones for years and has ONLY about 700 apps and basically none for the Storm and No WiFi. We are just pointing out the facts, sorry you may not like them as they are.
Give the FANBOYS some time to “spin” them so you will like them better! Time to realize the BB Storm is a bug-FEST and when the BB FANBOYS piled on the iPhone when it was released it was NOT warranted, especially after all RIM did was try to copy the iPhone!
If “smartphones” were so insignificant FOR YOU, why are you reading this POST? If you are not an offended BB FANBOY yourself, why comment? Nice try on trying to act “above it all.” HAHAHA
The Storm lines are gone, the bugs are all there, the reviews were all mostly negative, the bubble has burst. GET OVER IT!
By the time RIM issues a working fix, for the Storm to make it a decent phone, there will be another few thousand apps, and another iPhone update adding yet again MORE features!
@ likeabite:
“Like-To=Spin” is a complete and utter MORON!
I invite all to just read the other post were I wiped the floor with him and EXPOSED “Like-To=Spin” as being a phony were he lied about the iPhone and BB. It turned out he NEVER OWNED either one, and all he did was attack people who did.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/31/the-real-reason-the-blackberry-storm-doesnt-have-wi-fi-or-tri-band-hsdpa/comment-page-20/#comments
He goes off topic ANY time he is losing an argument. He did it for over 100 comments.
He never even owned a BB, an iPhone, or an iPod as he made up stories all over the place as if he did. He is a liar and FANBOY.
Shut-up or I will wipe the floor with you again as I have all your past comments to EXPOSE you some more!
@ Paul
Oh my bad, almost two years after it’s release and still can’t make a phone call. You come off as the biggest clown on this site. It has over 10 thousand apps ok, has any of those apps helped ATT do what a phone is supposed to do such as the basic premise of making a phone call to another party without it hanging up mid sentence? Tell me which of those iPhone apps can do that?
I am a business owner, therefore I use my business phone. I use my ipod when I go to the gym. Now I will let you get back to your rave party with the other like-minded little kids.
You don’t have to be “above it all” to point out when a fool is acting like a fool, and you sir, are a complete and utter fool. Deal with that.
@ Maliek…welcome to the realization we here at BGR have come to…it won’t be long til you realize Paul’s a bigger dumbass than you think…just wait for his next reply lol
Here here! Who is the Paul clown? Does he have nothing better to do than sip his mocha latte in Starbucks, watching youtube videos on his wifi-enabled iPhone, and browsing the help wanted ads on the safari (webkit) browser?
Paul, the reason there are 10k+ ‘apps’ for the iPhone is the reason the iPhone sucks for business users – it’s a multimedia device that doubles as a phone. It can’t do anything I need it to do for my business. It can’t even copy text form a webpage or document into an email. There isn’t even landscape mode for emailing for god’s sake. Push Email? Not without MS! Plays a mean game of Tetris 3D though.
Well, let’s all watch Paul get his lingerie in a knot over yet another post he’ll assume is a BB fanboy knocking his precious little ‘ipod with a phone’. The simple fact, Paul, is that I don’t know a single business user that has purchased an iPhone, but every colleague I have operates a blackberry and couldn’t be happier. If the Storm has issues out of the gate, well, so does every new phone, ESPECIALLY the iPhone. Speaking of the iPhone, I’ve never witnessed a more pathetic product rollout, in fact. The Storm ‘issues’ are minor in comparison. Mine happens to work perfectly, and I’m still discovering what it can do.
Paul, STFU already, with every post you appear dumber. The iPhone is an amazing phone with great multimedia features. Very few people here dispute that. Now go back home to your parent’s basement and calm down already. THe Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition will be out in a few months, giving you a reason to go outside and check the mail. Some of us have to work, and we’ll do it on our blackberries.
BTW, show me an iPhone that works for business, and I’ll buy it in a heartbeat! I love my Storm, but Apple does own the usability crown. The Storm was definately designed by a bunch of engineers.
I did and I’m pretty happy that I did. But as I have only had this iPhone for two days I’m learning a few things from the view of a Mac user and a previous BB8830 owner. The 8830 was really a killer work tool for mail, calendaring, and tasks. But it did not connect well with my Macs. Assuming the MobileMe cloud works I’m willing to give up a little efficiency working with the iPhone, as I think I’ll make it up with the greater efficiency that the cloud offers.
That said I just want to point out that to get the full benefit of the iPhone you really need Mobile.Me, and plan on using Apple’s Address Book, and maybe Apple’s Mail. You just have to drink all of the Apple “Koolaid” to reap the full benefits.
ive had the storm for about a week. its not that bad. yeh it has a few glitches here and there but what phone doesnt. all together the storm is actually pretty cool and its the best phone that has come out since the iphone. RIM and VZW will be coming out with software upgrades in december… we as storm customers just need to give them our feedback and how we actually feel about the phone in order for changes to come into effect.
10,113 iPhone Apps, sitting here sitting at Starbucks with a WiFi enabled phone that actually works perfectly. I am not wondering were my next fix will becoming from, IF and when I will be getting apps, or struggling with a keyboard that works like a mechanical typewriter, that every major reviewer hated. ONLY FANBOYS seem happy with the crippled Storm!
Amazing that the iPhone totally outsold all of RIM and Windows Mobile for what you want to call a bad device. AT&T has more customers and does NOT have to BUY customers to become bigger!
So if all the calls dropped, that you fantasize about, all the customers would be on the big line for a Storm. So that’s right THERE IS NO MORE LINE! HAHAHA
The only line VZW has not is the “Please fix my Storm line.”
@ Like=To-SPIN:
See Like-To-Spin, is a complete phony. I already wiped the floor with him and exposed his non-sense. He just can’t seem to keep his MOUTH shut. He never owned an iPhone of a BB. He just likes to call people names, use different names on the blog and acts like he is superior to the actual people that spent there hard earned money on the actual device he KNOWS NOTHING about!
First he lies about the iPhone, iPod, BB, and Nokia and AT&T. Claims that VZW is a union shop with their HQ in Manhattan! When exposed he uses vile language as his facts have dried up and he was caught lying. I was going to ignore him, but since he can not keep his MOUTH SHUT I will expose him some more. All you have to do is read this guys comments to see what a phony baloney FANBOY liar he is.
After bashing devices he never owned or used, he makes the most unusual spinning comments. First the iPhone was no good, it was not even a “smartphone” and RIM lost no business to the iPhone and VZW lost no biz to AT&T. BUT…. READ HIS OWN WORDS.
Here we go:
Likeabite on Verizon Wireless to get the iPhone?
HE SAID “Yea I agree with Mike…Verizon getting the iPhone would make sense since they are indeed moving to the 4G LTE spectrum. It would be a major move though since the iPhone is truly the only device AT&T has that hase made people jump ship. I am not the biggest iPhone fan and plan on getting the Storm but I would not be adverse to picking it up if there is a great overhaul of its features and form factor, since it has not changed from the previous one it looks just like the damn itouch. And you also have to love the UI.”
Likeabite on AT&T to potential BlackBerry Storm customers: Storm sucks, iPhone rulez!
HE SAID “Evilhomer sure has a lot of posts on this blog to be calling someone a fanboy. I have never owned either a blackberry or an iphone but I have played with both before.”
Sounds like he could be thrown out of the BB Storm Fanboy club!
Hey Like-To-Spin or BlueHorseSlipper whatever you are calling yourself these days, Play with this! HAHAHA
I think it best to shut up and stay out of things you have nothing to do with, little boy phony!
will black berry update all of the storm phones? the 9500(regular{non-wireless carrier[original unlocked}]version)
please reply at Hallelujah475@yahoo.com!! thanks!!
Here is my feedback, I returned the Storm and bought a REAL BB. I could not have been more disappointed in any device I ever owned. I switched carriers and got the Bold with WiFi. The Storm is a piece of garbage.
“AT&T has more customers and does NOT have to BUY customers to become bigger!”
Here is where stupidity lies and why everyone ignores anything you say. I seem to remember a company called Cingular…oh ok…if you don’t then you make sense.
Boy you sound really gay, no that there’s anything wrong with that. But you and some of these people really do need to get a life.
Why all of the bickering and childish arguing. If you like your IPhone then good for you. If you like your Blackberry Storm, that’s great too. They are each designed for different people with different purposes. Let’s face it, the Storm has some bugs that I hope will get worked out soon since I have one with several problems including an actual button defect. I use my Blackberry for business and they are hard to beat in this arena, I believe that the Storm is my 4th BB.
Aren’t these comments supposed to offer useful information to the readers to help them make decisions about there own equipment.
The IPhone looks like fun and I sort of envy my co-workers who have them, but I am going to ride it out with the Storm. Can’t we all just get along? Merry Christmas!
@ Like-To-Spin:
Seems you STILL think you are the Mayor of the Blog and want to continue your nonsense, no problem with me, I will just expose you to a whole new audience! I can do this all year. Seems you just can not seem to keep YOUR “spinning” dirty mouth shut. I will close it, just like I did last time with facts!
As usual YOU ARE SPINNING. READ YOUR OWN WORDS:
“iPhone is truly the only device AT&T has that hase made people jump ship.” YOUR OWN WORDS that made my point.
AT&T took about 1 million customers away from VZW with the iPhone alone! YOU the ULTIMATE VZW FANBOY acknowledge this yourself with your own statement! HAHAHA
BUT ARE SPINNING AGAIN. Do you EVER say anything without spinning?
AT&T picked up 2.4 million customers with the iPhone alone. VZW lost 1 million. It will be interesting to see how many “jump ship” (YOUR WORDS) for the Bold that has guess what, WiFi and is a REAL BB.
How many more will “jump ship” for the iPhone as more and more businesses adopt it and consumers buy more. With over 16 million sold is such a short time, beating RIM they are sure on their way.
AT&T picked these new 2.4 million customers with ONLY offering better devices. They have NO debt. VZW will have over 30 BILLION in new debt when the Alltel deal is complete as they had to BUY new customers. AT&T did not. Those are the facts, like them or not. VZW tried to buy up AT&T wireless and was outbid over 5 years ago, so you have no point, as usual, just SPIN! That is OLD news and not relevant now.
Maybe if you did not spend every waking moment on BGR listening ONLY to other fanboys and calling everyone names, you might actually learn something from less biased sources. NO posting really bad videos on K5live, does not count. I only care about facts and the marketplace, not bull from biased morons that do not matter.
Stop wasting your employers time and bandwidth, you are no genius, and never even OWNED a BB or an iPhone. VZW was the ONLY carrier you EVER had. Since you ONLY send a monthly check (or your mom does) to VZW, this does not make you part of the company or any sort of expert. Maybe your MOM does and this is why you do not care what they charge while they cripple your device.
Christ, you own a Zune! HAHAHA Shows again you are a big hater of all that is Apple and tried to tell me the Zune compared to an iPod in sales and functionality! ONLY the marketplace counts dummy!
What it makes you is a FANBOY who was in love with the Storm, you never touched that simply looked like an iPhone in its picture! You even called the Storm “beautiful”, HAHAHA GET a GIRL, please!
READ DUMMY:
Forbes: Apple’s iPhone cuts business travel costs; 12 iPhone apps for business travelers:
“Forget packing a phone, laptop, paper and pens. Just tote an iPhone filled with business apps,” Bonnie Ruberg reports for Forbes.
“In an economy like this one, what company can afford to send its employees on the road with suitcases full of high-tech gadgets? To cut costs, business travelers just need to tote an iPhone filled with applications that help them book airline flights, organize schedules and deliver presentations,” Ruberg reports.
“Apple’s App Store has hundreds of travel-related apps and almost all of them are $9.99 or less. Indeed, the iPhone is making life much easier for business travelers–or at least it will, once they figure out what it can do,” Ruberg reports.
http://news.cnet.com/1606-2_3-50004588.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1
WiFi Counts, EVEN for BUSINESS:
CNET Wi-Fi while you fly! Most major airlines are adding WiFi to flights now.
http://news.cnet.com/1606-2_3-50004588.html
BUT, the spinning FANBOYS still claims that WiFi and 10,126 iPhone apps don’t matter. That’s right, you are watching the numbers grow fast. At the end of the next quarter, the holiday quarter you will see RIM do little to catch the iPhone in sales. Even less is apps.
iPhone has captured handheld gaming, consumers, and is growing on business. This added to the many many iPod/iTunes users. RIM has business email. Little else! With amount of third party apps and WiFi, the Storm is of limited appeal. Most BB owners hardly use their BB for data, except for email. iPhone is the leader in browsing of all mobile handheld devices.
The Storm has no syncing for Mac users, no WiFi, no apps, no games, no way to access the GPS chip without VZNavigator or Google Maps, no way to use voice and data at the same time, no way to join a local network, and no choice of music stores. Not to mention a crappy keyboard that was hated by most every reviewer. The rollout was terrible and the lines are already gone!
Now that the bubble has bursted, go hide and call me dirty names, as that is all you are good for. Except for a good laugh! HAHAHAHA
HEY Moron if I am so ignored, why do you attack me? HAHAHA Seems what you are afraid of is I am not ignored. FACTS do that!