BlackBerry Storm 9500
Discontinued 8th November 2008
The BlackBerry Storm 9500 is RIM's first touchscreen
BlackBerry device, incorporating many features found
in the BlackBerry
Bold 9000 along with an all-new display.
The touch-sensitive panel is clearly the most interesting
thing on the BlackBerry Storm. It's a 3.25" 480
x 360 pixel panel that apparently gives user's the feeling
of pressing down on a real key, which then lights up.
Other companies (notably Motorola) do this using a technology
called "haptics", exactly how the 9500 improves
on this is not clear.
BlackBerry devices are all about messaging, and yet
there's no physical keyboard on the 9500. RIM's approach
is to use an on-screen keyboard, but cleverly they have
two distinct versions - a SureType virtual keyboard
(as found on the BlackBerry
Pearl) is used in portrait (tall) mode, with a larger
QWERTY keyboard for use in landscape (wide) mode. The
Storm automatically switches between modes when rotated,
so if you suddenly find that you need to do some more
intensive typing than the SureType arrangement allows
then it's a hassle-free transition.
Although
cosmetically similar to the user interface on the BlackBerry
Bold, the Storm's UI supports multi-touch, slides and
taps in a way similar to the iPhone.
No more messing around with tiny trackballs or jog wheels
here, then. The clever looking web browser takes full
advantage of these interface improvements.
The Storm 9500 also has a built-in GPS receiver and
a navigation function. The GPS can also be used to automatically
geotag photographs taken with the 9500's camera, which
is a 3.2 megapixel unit with autofocus and flash.
It's hard to say if this is a business phone or a
consumer device. For business users, the BlackBerry
Storm 9500 does of course support BlackBerry push email,
and it also comes with a document editor so that Microsoft
Office files can be viewed and edited on the move. But
on the flipside, the BlackBerry Storm also has a comprehensive
multimedia player and a 3.5mm audio jack, so this is
a capable music phone too.
This is a 3G device, the BlackBerry Storm 9500 has
quad-band GSM and UMTS 2100 with support for HSDPA high-speed
data. There's also a US version, the BlackBerry Storm
9530 which runs on CDMA/EV-DO networks. Neither version
of the BlackBerry Storm supports WiFi, which is a serious
omission in our view.
It's
quite a hefty device at 155 grams and 113 x 62 x 14mm
in size. The large 1400 mAh battery can give up to 5.5
hours talktime and 15 day standby time on 3G, which
is impressive. The overall design is smart but unexciting,
with just four physical keys on the front underneath
the large screen. Internal memory is 1GB, expandable
by up to 16GB using microSD cards.
The BlackBerry Storm 9500 is exclusive to Vodafone
at launch, and we don't know if any other carriers will
take it in the future. Vodafone say that the Storm should
be available in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand
from next month. In the US, the Storm 9530 is exclusive
to Verizon Wireless (45% owned by Vodafone). It's clear
that Vodafone have done well to acquire exclusive rights
to the BlackBerry Storm, and perhaps it compensates
in some way for not having a relationship with Apple
to push the iPhone. Vodafone have provided a video about
the Storm here.
Overall, this seems to be an impressive but flawed
device. It offers almost everything you could want from
a smartphone except for WiFi, and for a top-end device
such as the Storm this should be standard. If you are
a corporate user on the Vodafone or Verizon network,
then it does actually look like a good business device,
especially with the clever virtual keyboard and long
battery life.
Would we want one? Well, no.. we like the look of
the Pearl
Flip rather than the pocket-busting Storm. But it's
certainly a useful addition to the BlackBerry range
and we can see that it will appeal to many.
|
BlackBerry
Storm 9500 at a glance |
Available:
|
Q4
2008
|
Network:
|
GSM
850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
+ UMTS 2100
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA
|
Screen:
|
360
x 480 pixels
|
Camera:
|
3.2
megapixels
|
Size:
|
PDA-style
device 113
x 62 x 14mm / 155 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Not
specified
|
GPS:
|
Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
5.5
hours talk / 15 days standby
(3G)
|
|
|