Comments on: BlackBerry Storm customers complain

RIM's BlackBerry Storm has gotten off to a rough start with lots of customers complaining of glitches, according to The Wall Street Journal.

[mike.gw]

mgnfcnt, perhaps RIM was working on a touch interface smartphone, but most smartphone makesrs after Palm/Handspring abandoned the touch interface. RIM seemed the least interested in releasing a touch phone until iPhone sales took off and Apple included Exchange push client technology. The few WinMo smartphones with touch screen technology never sold in numbers sufficient to convince RIM that it was viable to risk offering a Blackberry with the technology. By the way, I'm an IT Director managing an Exchange server along with a Blackberry Enterprise server. I support the iPhone, various Blackberries and WinMo phones grabbing mail from my network, and I've used a variety of Smartphones from Samsung, Motorola, Palm, RIM, Apple and Kyocera. And you're right... each one does have their benefits. But Apple does seem to have packaged most of what people want in the most useful all around way. Lets see how Palm's new phone does when it's released. Until then, you gotta give Apple credit for significantly improving the offering in the touch space.

[TheGuvnor75]

Bah...I hear the same thing over and over on these posts. You have the iphone fanboys and you have the RIM fanboys. Folks, before you bust on a technology, you have to try it. From what I see on these posts most fanboys havent used both, and of course what are the chances, they are offered by two different providers.

I bought a storm over the weekend and it rocks, so what if it takes a second for the keyboard to flip, that along does not make this phone bad. It usually takes me a while to like something, but this product works for me. Good call clarity, no dropped calls, instant messenger updates, and the browser works just fine. My experience with the iphone....lol what a toy. Sure it looked good and wowed the girls, but it still locked up, dropped calls, had a terrible battery life, and it was flimsy. Needless to say...MMS...what a joke...

Furthermore the majority of businesses use BB as their standard equipment...not iphones.

So short an sweet.....If you are a serious wireless user go with the storm...if you just want to be a coffee snortin hippie that likes to wow the girls then get an iphone.

[SaintDude]

My wife has an iPhone and I have the Moto Q for work and the LG Voyager as my personal phone. My hands are too big to type emails on the iPhone and I want wi-fi on any future smart phones.

I tried the Storm and it's was just too slow and made me happy to return to my Moto Q and you know a phone has to suck for me to enjoy the Q.

I'll be leaving Verizon for Sprint and buying the Pre

[djstein]

I think it's funny that people who don't even own the Storm try to leave feedback about how much it "sucks". I've owned the Storm for two months now and the phone is not even close to being a failure. Despite a few minor problems the phone works great. Do us all a favor and leave your feedback in another area on something you actually know about.

[jjbenning]

Having owned my Storm for a couple of months now, I can say it is probably the most useful device I have ever owned. Yes, it is sluggish at time, but with the upgrade (4.7.0.75) it operates much better and so far has not locked up at all, where it did once on the previous version. As a field engineer having to constantly keep in touch with the home office, it performs that function perfectly and is a much better device than the Windows Mobile Verizon phone I was originally stuck with from my employer. That device would delay on pressing the answer button for answering calls, where with the Storm, answering is very quick. It also has excellent reception both for voice and data use. I have more issues with Verizon, but they do provide the best network for my area of the country. The virtual keyboard can be trying at times with my big thumbs, but I do manage to use it for both texting and emails, although touchscreen accuracy can leave a lot to be desired at times. Hopefully RIM will work on reducing the bug count and improve its functionality in future version OS releases.

[donnie0526]

I have both the Storm and the iPhone. I love both. I must be the lucky one who isn't having these reported problems with the Storm.

Too bad the iPhone cannot be securely implemented. My employer announced iPhone support, only to retract it because no ability to implement two-phase authentication.

Nobody mentions Google/Android. Kinda wish I had one of these to kick around.

And come on Apply fans. Why do you (all) need to continue this tired, worn out we are better than the rest. Constantly defending your platform is obvious indication of insecurity. AAPL has spent 30 years trying to even up with it's competition, and poorly implemented engineering decisions keep AAPL out of enterprise applications.

Explain the logic - AAPLs new 17" laptop battery cannot be replaced without having a service call. Paleeez.

[ivanrooni]

The Storm initially had bugs. It is MUCH BETTER! The typing troubles folks are having with the phone I just do not see it. On the iPhone I make terrible mistakes all the time with the typing. The touch is too touchy! I like the "Click" for it is more accurate! Much more accurate! I LOVE MY STORM and would not trade it for the an iPhone anyday / no way! The video recorder is excellent... the pictures are crisp and much better than the iPhone. I hope the application center comes around as promised. Nonetheless, how many programs do folks actually use on the iPhone once downloaded. Blackberry programs are more user based with logical functions. It is not a toy! The bashng of the Blackberry by the Apple users reminds me of the "bashing" by Apple of the Windows based computers that has gone on for years. Don't get me wrong Apple has good products. It is almost "Cult-ish" the way Apple owners want to de-grade a product that might shake their roots of loyalty. Questions I need to ask? Where is the video recorder on the iPhone/ where is the copy paste? / Where is the accurate typing for long winded emails?/ Did the iPhone not have bugs when it first came out? (check youtube for such)/ REmovable battery is not an option? Got to send it back to Apple for a bad battery?/ Many wrongs are known with the iPhone and yet... the Strom is suppose to be nothing short of trash? COME ON! Give me a break cult members.

[sprintrep187]

you are not ignorant. for some stupid reason Rim did not enable the Sprint Blackberry Curve to use MMS. You can only send text messages.

[SkateNY]

It's not just a pretty face.

Apple Set To Clean Up In SmartPhone Market
By David Richards | Wednesday | 14/01/2009

As several Companies line up to take on the iPhone in the smartphone market, researchers are saying that Apple will end up with 40% of the global market due to their massive cash reserves.
According to market research firm Generator Research, Apple is in an excellent position to dominate the phone market over the next few years.

"With cash reserves exceeding $34billion, 33% gross margins and the iPhone just about to enter its fastest-growth phase, Apple has the resources, competencies and motivation to invest in the mobile sector just at the time when the economic climate is forcing many established players in the mobile industry to cut back on product development," said Generator head of research Andrew Sheehy.
Apple's surge could cut Nokia's share of the smartphone market from 40% today to 20% by 2013. In the US market Nokia's share has dropped from 15% 18 months ago to less than 8% today.

Generator Research said that Apple could ship as many as 77 million iPhones by 2013, including several different models addressing different market segments.

"Our analysis is that the iPhone and App Store constitute a vertical platform for the delivery of advanced mobile services that will be developed in a similar manner to how Apple developed its digital music platform, which included the iPod and the iTunes Music Store," added Sheehy.
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Phones/Industry/R9J5A7V4

[MARKINNYC]

I live in an area now where I cannot get AT&T service. Two iPhones in the family and we both have the 'no service" light on constantly at home. I've even tried a $500 repeater and antenna set up at the house and THAT didn't help either. We're really in a fringe area. However our daughter with a Verizon phone has four and five bars when she visits us. She also has a Verizon Data modem (5 gig/mo @ $50/mo) which I have to admit works like a champ at our house. When my T-1 at home went down for a week (thank you Qwest) we borrowed her Verizon G-3 card, put it into a fixed modem and plugged that into our Apple Airport Extreme N wireless router and had good, if not great data service for every computer in the house! While the GSM service offering from AT&T is "THE STANDARD" it does not have the coverage that Verizon does and the CDMA Tech - while not state of the art( by a long shot )is a much better offering than anything else out there... in terms of coverage, speed, etc., for data service.

[aerjhe]

Yeah, these Iphone lovers/Storm haters are really laughable. My advice to anyone trying to decide between the two is just get the phone that meets YOUR personal priorities. The Iphone is great for mobile browsing, fluid OS and...well to be honest....that's about it. The Storm offers better E-mail services, MMS messaging, BB MESSENGER (my personal favorite) and much better network coverage with Verizon. People really don't consider that with the first generation of ANYTHING there's going to be bugs. For example: the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, the Imac, Plasma TVs, LCD TVs, the IPhone, the IPhone 3G.....get the point.

I am at my wits' end with this phone. I want to at least like it but it makes this a very difficult task. My list of complaints have been voiced by others but I fail to understand the reluctance of both companies to help rectify the phone's inability to provide the services/uses it touts. I can't take the constant locking out, not only from the initial screen (which I have learned to see as a security measure) but from one application to another or even within the same application! Videos. What can be written about your son's great goal assist being captured on your new phone and can not play it back, or email it, because the format is unrecognized. My second day's obsession will be to continue and try to return the phone ringer back to the on position. It seems that not only can I not acomlish this, but neither can the verison staffer I met with yesterday. I am sure I'll think of some value to this inability to be imtrerrupted at meetings because a member of the household needs me desperately to help settle a discussion while I am trapped at a meeting. If verizzon had the Iphone - this one would be conveniently lost - wait, can't do that. Have insurance and I would be getting yet another ill behaved, spoiled, dull, dimwitted, slow storm smartphone.

[Suspera]

The Blackberry Storm made my Razor seem like an excellent cell phone. I hated it and kept it for just a bit over a month and dropped my contract with verizon over it. When a Razor outperforms a smart phone that is sad. I think the minute you get the Blackberry Storm you need to upgrade the memory and then it may perform better. Two thumbs down though in my opinion.

[RoyCKMeyer]

While the phone looks modern and flashy, and I can't complain about the quality of the build, the functionality of the phone for business users is extremely poor.
Here are some of the main concerns. These concerns have been vetted by at least 6 users in my department alone. OS upgrades help matters, but not much. All of the users are attempting to get different blackberry models as a replacement for recently received Storms. Other than the person responsible for purchasing our company phones, I have yet to find anyone who rates this phone above average.
1. When making international calls, more than half the time, a received or previously made call cannot be automatically redialled. You have to reenter the "+" and country code.
2. You will be constantly hearing "Say a command" every time you pick up the phone because of the positioning of the side buttons.
3. Accelerometer (device to switch between portrait and landscape views) is incredibly slow.
4. Device often locks up in portrait or landscape mode regardless of device position
5. Device often freezes, sometimes to the point of having to remove battery to reset.
6. It is impossible to type quickly or accurately. Even with familiarity, typing efficiency is about 60-70% of any standard phone. Accuracy is about 300% worse.
7. Positioning, cutting and pasting (i.e. any edit functions) are virtually impossible with the touch screen.
8. Picture taking is impossibly slow, particularly with flash
9. Keypad is normally not there when you want it, and there blocking info when you don't want it.
10. Keypad functions poorly if you like to use one hand to type "across" the qwerty keypad. You will be constantly selecting an adjacent letter.

[trkabuzz]

Sorry but I've given this thing 8 months for ME to get used to IT and it truly is IMHO the worst UI/hardware combination I've ever experienced. Who puts a mute key (rarely used by me ever) at cheek bone level for us lefties to accidentily engage and leaves no way to reconfigure the layout (while a call is in progress). Stupid UI, just plain and simple. Now, as is regular, it is asking me to re-enter my hotmail password (hello, why do we have to do this every x days, ever heard of macros????) and this time it refuses to accept my email address. And that is the extent of the error message (Please enter a valid email address...). I copied and pasted it into an email and guess what? It got delivered. Stupid, stupid, software. STAY AWAY!!!