Comments on: The BlackBerry Storm is no iPhone

Don Reisinger thinks the BlackBerry Storm is great in its own right, but it can't quite compete with the iPhone. Is that true?

[blsith]

Does the storm need the media blitz that Apple had to be successful? I doubt it. The professionals that really are interested in the device will be the ones gobbling it up, and I'm sure it will do fantastically well without all the media hype. It's also not aimed at the same folks, necessarily, that the iPhone was. Those that know Blackberry will find out about this and be interested.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard from IT folks that have the iPhone is the learning curve to typing on a screen - it's just not very intuitive to them. The push-screen concept could be very interesting.

[joeldm]

"The push-screen concept could be very interesting."

What this really is, is a screen that doesn't actually give you tactile feedback about where individual buttons are, you just have to "push to click" that's the feedback, you get a "click" when you've successfully pushed down on the screen for input anywhere on the screen. How this improves the experience I have no idea. With the iPhone there's no need to push hard enough for a click. I can push a button and I can _hear_ a click if I wish to hear one in the settings, but the notion that I have to push hard enough for all input to get that click feel seems less like an actual useful feature and more like a gimmick. As one hands-on reviewer said:

"No matter how many times your fingers dance on the screen like you've been trained on every other touchscreen, nothing will happen. At least, not until you push the screen all the way down and you feel a click. Yes, the screen is a giant button, one you have to punch for basically every action, even every letter you type, completely breaking the touchscreen paradigm."

That's right folks, the screen is one giant button and for EVERY KEYSTROKE, you have to depress the screen until you feel the click, so no more iPhone-like rapid-typing, this sounds like hunt-and-peck hell to me. The above reviewer said he could see where some might actually get used to it but for many, "I could definitely see people loathing it."

What other smartphone/touchscreen makers don't get is that it isn't the touch feature that makes the iPhone it's the whole package, how all the parts work and interact with each other. I've tried the other touchphones in stores and they just do not get it. They slap a touchscreen onto their software package and call it an iPhone-Killer, so far the only murder goin' on has been using these copy-cats. That's why up until the iPhone almost NO ONE used the browser features in their smartphones, now, the iPhone leads all other smarthphones in browser use by double digits. It's the whole package, not the features.

JoeL

[DrtyDogg]

@joeldm: Do you need a tissue? You are drooling.

[AStrangis]

I agree that the Storm doesn't NEED the media blitz, because on the most important level it (and other smart phones) DO compete with the iPhone.

Sales.

For some reason the big tech bloggers love to ignore this when talking about 'competition' with the iPhone.

Since the introduction of the iPhone, other smart mobile OSes have not seen a dip in sales. In fact they've seen an INCREASE, which could be a case of rising tide of consumer awareness floating all boats.

For example, Symbian (the global smart OS leader) has seen a 15% increase in sales since the iPhone launched.

For Windows Mobile, HTC alone sold over 11 million devices in 2007, and as of end of August have reported a 33% increase over 2007. Estimated user base of WM is somewhere north of 35 million and growing.

Even though Blackberry has a range of phone designs, as opposed to Apple's one design, as an operating system it far outsells the iPhone. In the first half of 2008 alone, BB moved about 6.5 million. Compared to the total iPhone sales of an estimated 7 million from the launch of the original until August of 2008, I'd say that it would be refreshing to more mainstream discussion on sites like CNet.

Obviously iPhone wins in hype, but I'm noticing on the subways and streets of my hometown an increasing number of people not dressed in 'suits' using smartphones, and they're not all iPhones. A lot of BB Pearls and HTC Touches and Diamonds.

This isn't to take away from the iPhone. It's introduction has made a lot of people who weren't interested before suddenly start looking around. What they're discovering is that unlike the uber-niche MP3 player market before the iPod launched, there's a robust and mature pre-existing smart phone market out there, and the two major contributions that Apple has brought to the table are the nice high res screen, and much cheaper data plans.

[Bobzilla033]

To Joeldm. I find it hard to finish reading your comments when the fact of the matter is that no-one has seen or used the new Blackberry yet and has no idea how it is going to work. The rest of us are genuinely excited for the new technology and I find your bias without backing irresponsible.

[ami1111]

i bought 2 Storms from verizon last week.
GARBAGE .....one of them we already returned back,call drops,phone freezing,hard to type on key board.
takes for ever to reboot..

2nd one i kept for now
shuts off by itself
reboot by itself
i click to type and it goes often into camera mode by itself......................
waiste of money and over rated
i can not see myself keeping this junk,but i paid $ 159.00 plus another 50.00 off,i may try it for while longer
if not.............i will go for the Iphone

i can not believe they put it out on the market with so many problems

[jandler]

I just tried a few experiment. I asked a few people in my office that question.

"Do you know what is the blackberry storm?"

The answer revolves around: "No, A new type of blackberry?"

It is true that people don't know about the storm in particular. The same can be said about the android. But people sure do know about blackberry. That's enough to generate interest and curiousity. It is even more true that the average people wouldn't care much about the smartphone in general. But think about this, people often use blackberry @ work, and use iphone (or another more consumer friendly ) device @ 'home'. Now the storm can do both.

What makes you think that verizon won't bump some heavy PR behind this? Verizon, in the recent months, have been losing badly against AT&T. Well, this device, is their opportunity to fight back. To do nothing would be completely stupid.

[tyler_rocks_09]

Verizon has been losing badly against AT&T?
I dont know where your getting your info, but Verizon is doing better then AT&T.

Get your info fright before you post something.

Verizon has the best rating and lowest number of people who switch off there network.

AT&T has the worse ratings.

[ami1111]

i bought 2
one i returned

2nd one one the way

what a faluire.garbage,freezes ofter,shuts off by its self,no good for tayping typing
sometimes screen stuck between applications

waiste of money

i am disappointed

[jandler]

Oh one more thing. The success or failure or initial sales (whatever you want to call it) of the devices will be highly dependent on the current economic situation being extremely bad (probably gonna get worst before it gets better). Since the smartphone is still consider a luxury device, I don't expect it to sell too well right away. And this won't be due to the quality of the device but simply because of the shadow of the current crisis.

[Markus2008]

You're almost right. Except you can still increase sale by increasing marketing in a down market.

[anilsudh]

Oh!! Already making excuses for the failure of this new piece of junk from Blackberry.

[jandler]

@Markus2008: Almost right as well...it is true that in any situation you can increase sale by a masterful marketing campaign. However, would people buy a phone if they can't put a roof over there head or food on their table? Blackberry being primarly corporate device follows corporate 'rules'. Current blackberry are good enough, why transition to a new one why money are little. Why use them when money are litle. Hardware upgrade cycle will be push to the next quarter, etc etc. (I hear those speech alot from our boss). A similar argument can be said about the consumers. My nokia works get right now, it does everything i need, why get a new one? Of course, this doesn't apply to those hardcore fan (early adopter) who wants everything new right now. Then again, how much money can you make out of them?

[jandler]

@Markus2008: Almost right as well...it is true that in any situation you can increase sale by a masterful marketing campaign. However, would people buy a phone if they can't put a roof over there head or food on their table? Blackberry being primarly corporate device follows corporate 'rules'. Current blackberry are good enough, why transition to a new one why money are little. Why use them when money are litle. Hardware upgrade cycle will be push to the next quarter, etc etc. (I hear those speech alot from our boss). A similar argument can be said about the consumers. My nokia works get right now, it does everything i need, why get a new one? Of course, this doesn't apply to those hardcore fan (early adopter) who wants everything new right now. Then again, how much money can you make out of them?

[jandler]

@anilsudh
Your ignorance is truly amusing. You talk like you know anything about the storm? Have you used it? Have you reviewed it? How can you so easily dismiss it as junk?

The other comments you made about this story are equally pathetic.

You say "Does not give any ability to read any kind of documents. No PDF, No Word, No Excel. Nothing but a big ZERO". Please read this "http://gizmodo.com/5060378/blackberry-storm-first-hands-on"

You say "What exactly is Blackberry's reliability. We saw what happened when their servers went out. So it is only as reliable as their server. Plus corporations have to pay through their nose to host the Blackberry servers."
A network device is only reliable as the network and the server...woah...slow down Cooper. That hit me like on the ankle. Server suffer outage just like any server. If you want to discuss single point of failure, that will make you look better.
And about multiple network, how about "Verizon's CDMA/EvDO and the GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA technology for Vodafone in Europe and elsewhere"

It's funny because in your comments from other stories, you tell people to do their research and not do paper thin comparison...well do the same.

[Bobzilla033]

@jandler: I think the very nature of our current economic dilemma proves that people would buy a smartphone when they can't put a roof over their heads...

[easydan]

I believe it is a good device, we need more options, i didn't go for a blackberry because i don't like the layout and desing of the phone, but i do know way more people that uses blackberry instead of iphone, there are plenty thing that could put the storm in the spotlight, it has multimedia messaging, flash camera, 3MP, expandable memory, blackberry messenger, turn to turn gps, voice dialing and that is a Iphone inspired phone (touchscreen, big display). I own and iphone 3g and used to own an old iphone, and it's a great phone, but i'm getting tired of all the dropped calls freezes constant updates. Let's see the how storm does

[NimrodSonOfCush]

That is not the best barometer of measuring a device's success. RIM has sold a LOT more "inferior" handhelds than the iPhone during the same period without the rediculous amount of press given to the iPhone. Why? Probably because RIM doesn't limit you to one network. I don't even think for 5 seconds about the iPhone simply because it is only available on AT&T which is a show stopper for me.

Nimrod
http://www.PuroCleanCPR.com/

[Giles1085]

Don Reisinger is an idiot. Does anyone need to say more than that?

[mckitrick777]

Nope. You pretty much summed it up. Worthless article.

[egbas]

Totally Agree !!

[Zak1310]

No, You are the idiot, Don makes a good argument and proves his point well. I've owned an iPhone and quickly returned it after a month because of dropped calls, disfunctionality, and AT&T is not my favorite phone company to say the least. If the STORM had as much publicity as the iPhone it would beat it out any day of the week.

[Seaspray0]

Don is correct and he does make a good point. Just exactly what did you know about the iphone before it was released? That's because the media hyped the crap out of it. It seems to me that you are the idiot for not seeing reality.

[eyepoker]

i agree.... this is the second article I've read by him and its writing for the sake of writing. Obviously I don't have a very broad history of reading his drivel but so far.... thumbs down. I wonder what qualifies people to write on CNET?

[Mark_Anderson]

Actually he's pretty much spot on.

For instance, we know that smartphones released by, say, RIM or Nokia or HTC will come out with release to market firmware which will, as all smartphones do, require a few tweaks. These will subsequently delivered by firmware and the phone you have two to three months after purchase will be better than the one you bought. As such, we understand that some of the points made in initial reviews will be resolved.

The trouble is that the iPhone has exactly the same practical issues with firmware as its competitors yet we are given a blow by blow hyped up account of the release of what are little more than bug fixes and told that we should hope for jam tomorrow when it will be improved. As such the continuing development of the iPhone is kept in the public eye in a way that other smartphones aren't. The fair thing to do would, of course, be to re-review the whole range of smartphones, say, six months down the line but, unfortunately, that doesn't generate clicks so we are left with initial impressions on the vast majority of products with the notable exception of Apple's offering.

Sad but true.

[MetalWych]

I could not agree more. Another typical apple fanboy!

[ausernamenoonehaschosen]

Considering the screen uses a flexible polymer (I'm guessing that the screen is physically depressed and doesn't sense pressure through other means), would this put it at a greater risk of damage, and depending on the polymer used, scratching? Typically polymers lose strength and durability with increased elasticity. Does anyone know more about the screen materials?

[aswnc]

I've had the same concerns. I wonder how bright and durable the screen will be. My other concern is the actual benefit of this screen. It's a very interesting design and it's a step above a normal touch screen, but does the "click" actually make it better?
My biggest frustration with typing on the iphone is having to look down at the buttons instead of typing by feel. I make a few more mistakes with the iphone keyboard, but the auto correct usually fixes that. (Which prompts the question of whether or not the Storm's auto correct will work as well.) I think it will still have the same problem as with the iphone. Even though you may have to use more pressure and will have the click, you still can't type by feel.
Again, it's a great design, but I don't think it solves the problem at all.

[bbored130]

The Storm does have spell check.... and the depressing of the screen does make a difference as instead of hearing a click, you now have to push down and feel the click... but that was to solve the issue with the typical touch screen where you touch and it types and that causes problems with more errors in typing.... the screen is standard LCD but really with any touch screen device it is just as fragile so get things like screen protectors and cases... I too have an I touch and it sits in a case and screen protectors....

[nismoV]

I disagree to a certain level with the article. Those who are Verizon subscribers, like me, could care less about the iPhone. I want something comparable to the iPhone but that is available in my network. The Storm is it. Bottom line is that I believe that recognition will come naturally based on the number of the Verizon subscribers - 68.7 million in the US.

The success of the iPhone is also difficult to battle due to the astounding popularity of the iPod. The Storm can't touch the the iPod cool factor that the iPhone has. Also, I have an iPod Touch and the keyboard thing is great. Takes about a day to get used to - not a bad learning curve. I can't wait to see how the Storm's keyboard compares.

[AnonTip]

When will these phone guys wake up and simply add a USB port?

If one could plug in an exernal USB hub, keyboard, monitor, printer, HD, etc. you'd finally have a real winner.

[anilsudh]

Why don't you buy a computer instead. You can plug yourself also into it then.

[DrtyDogg]

I can connect a bluetooth keyboard and projector.

[bbored130]

uh you can use the BT to connect a BT keyboard or if you wanna be real cool.... you can buy one of those new Virtual Reality keyboards.... and you can connect a printer through the BT feature as well.... so why would you need a USB hub?????

[bluehorseshoe]

Has Don looked at the number of subscribers that use the BB as opposed to the iPhone (yes, including the corporate market)? And let's look at the consumer market like he states...individuals that are looking for productivity, messaging, and superior email are going to lean towards the BB, and those that are looking for a multimedia device that operates as a phone, they are going to lean toward the iPhone. As a consumer, I don't need to watch movies on my phone. I am however interested in email, messaging, and basic web browsing (I don't need the full screen shots like the iPhone offers, although nice). Plus the iPhone is limited in some ways, such as the fact you can't swap out the battery, limited to AT&T's lousy 3G network, and all outside programs are limited to Apple's store.

I'm a consumer who wants the best products. I run an Apple MacBook Pro. If the keyboard on the BB Storm is better than the iPhone keyboard, then I'd have to personally lean toward the BB Storm as my next phone. It's not like I can't do many of the basic functions on the Storm anyway that the iPhone offers.

[mckitrick777]

What exactly was the point of that article? Terrible. You've written more compelling articles than that.

[this1!]

have you read some of his other articles? really???

[davidnm47]

haha exactly

[luc-mobile]

All I can see in this article is Don complaining that the Storm doesn't get the same level of hype as the iPhone. That has to be frustrating to the ever buzz-hungry media industry. How are they supposed to attract readership with the product release of a company that doesn't make enough noise? That's all he's saying.

[brigz0006]

Don is the kind of guy who didn't think people were cool in high school unless they got voted most popular. It doesn't matter if the phone gets hyped, because let's face it, Apple products are always gonna be the most hyped whether they are making a smart phone or a toilet seat. RIM continues to lead Apple in the smartphone market share and the storm will do nothing but increase their lead.

[boychuk]

Don indicates that the BlackBerry Storm is no iPhone mainly due to the exposure and hype that Steve & Co. can generate.

While that's partially true, the new Storm still doesn't provide Cisco VPN client access without expensive hardware, and you still can't view Microsoft Word, Excel, and PDF documents natively either. The iPhone does all of them.

If BlackBerry is supposed to cater to the business crowd, it must be quite a niche component of that business crowd that doesn't require secure access to their Intranets and only reads and distributes documents in text format. Too bad RIM is holding back mobile innovation to the rest who don't have access to the iPhone for various reasons.

Based on function that the business crowd desires, the Storm is still no iPhone. It's not the hype.

[luc-mobile]

You'll need to get your facts right. I have a Blackberry Curve with OS 4.5 (older than the one shipping with the Storm) and I can view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files. I can view PDF files too. The PDF files are converted into another format, but that's done on the fly, it's very fast and I don't care about the format as long as I can read whatever they say. Also, a couple of applications have been announced that provide "traditional" format PDF viewing.

[shaqinsactown]

Firstly, why would the BlackBerry need a Cisco VPN client, by its design the BlackBerry is able to connect to behind the firewall resources?

Secondly, you can view and edit MS Word and PowerPoint documents natively with BlackBerry OS 4.5 or higher with Docs to go which is bundled. Also the BlackBerry can view all those document types now without Docs to Go.

Thirdly, how has RIM not tried to meet user requests by adding GPS, Bluetooth, camera, voice notes, sync of multiple mail accounts

[this1!]

Every once in a while you surprise us Don, with an intelligent, and well written article. Well done.

But in habit of the cnet community on picking on your game console articles, do you think RIM should release a game console?

[kboateng]

RIM never needed fanfare or a media blitz to sell a Blackberry Don. Yes, you are correct in that the average consumer does not know about this phone. However, there hasnt been no press events or anything, just internet blitz and leaks. That alone has made the Storm the most eagerly anticipated Blackberry product ever, even more so than the Bold. And seeing as how Blackberry managed to outsell iPhones ever since their debut all the way until now, I don't see the Storm having any issues selling as well. There are many corporate and enterprise individuals who would love to have the iphone but can't part with their blackberry's reliability and business suites. All they have to do is see someone with it or see a commercial on TV and it's all over. The Storm will do great by that alone, not to mention the fact that it will be available on a lot more networks in other countries than the iPhone, although it is a Verizon exclusive here. Vodafone and Bell already are carrying it and so will Rogers and a host of others pretty soon. The Blackberry is carried by everyone so expect the Storm to do to the industry exactly what its name suggests...take it by STORM!

[anilsudh]

First of all Blackberry will sink in their own STORM surge.

What exactly is Blackberry's reliability. We saw what happened when their servers went out. So it is only as reliable as their server. Plus corporations have to pay through their nose to host the Blackberry servers.

Exactly how is it going to be available in more networks?

The Blackberry is an overhyped piece of plastic garbage carried by corporate morons.

[Mark_Anderson]

@anilsudh

It's better to type nothing and be thought a fool than type something and confirm it.

Just a thought for you.

[bbored130]

@ anilsduh

First do your research... For a company or corporation like you stated to have a server cost per 100 users about $325 plus all the maintenance costs to keep the servers running and all the IT employees you have to hire including salary, med/dental tax fees etc....

Blackberry Enterprise costs for the same scenario is about half and you don't have to have nearly all the IT weenies so costs are quite a bit lower... oh and corporations don't host the blackberry servers... blackberry does...

available in more networks cause it's quad band for global support... so over 120 countries....
If blackberry is an overhyped piece of plastic garbage... what is the I-Phone... coporate morons??? ouch a little bitter?

[ThreeMilesNorth]

CNET columnists are conceited 92% of the times. This is one.

[raghavh]

You're right that the Storm will probably not have the same kind of publicity as the iPhone. But that is not to say "The BlackBerry Sorm is no iPhone". Doing so conveys the message that the phone itself isn't as good as the iPhone. The Storm might not have the success of the iPhone. The iPhone was a *game changer* in the mobile space and has enjoyed the first mover advantage. We now have a lot of similar phones in the market from industry leaders like, Nokia, Samsung, RIM and even Google. So I'm not sure what this article is trying to say.

As for the phone, I would definitely be interested in checking it out and possibly buying one if it is reasonably priced. I think the ClickThrough is genius! I wonder if the phone has multi-touch capabilities like the iPhone though ..

[Mary7Lynn]

Verizon is known to block all 3rd party applications and allows charge expensive fees for ever app and services.

For other carriers, you can use LifeInPocket Navigation for free while Verizon user can only use Verizon?s own VZ Navigation which is not as goods as LifeInPocket.

Who would want to buy a phone that you have to pay big money for apps and services?.

Most of my friends are using The popular LifeInPocket no matter they are with AT&T, Nextel, Sprint etc (but not Verizon). LifeInPocket is the best mobile phone GPS navigation I ever used. It's free, easy to download and user friendly.
The address sync capability (with Yahoo, GMAIL, Outlook etc) allow you to use those addresses for navigation by single click.
I use their location messaging to replace text messaging which also saved a lot of money.

Who would what to buy this expensive phone, pay expensive monthly plan and being restricted by Verizon for everything thus they can squeeze more money from you!

Nice phone, greed carrier, it?s not going to work!

[earthvoyager]

I agree with Don's article title totally. There is simply no iPhone killers. There are just lot of iPhone copycats.

For RIM , the Storm is needed to protect her user-base. The Storm looks like a better copycat with some original idea from RIM. Thumb up to RIM. But I'll wait for my Verizon contract to expire to get an iPhone.

[UITD]

Why?

[Zak1310]

RIM doesn't make no iPhone copycat, their intention was not to take a popular product and recreate it to make a cut of the sale.. but rather to make a original product that was just better. When the car was invented all that was needed to be done was add an engine to a wagon, while the wagon still existed the engine prospered on because of advanced technology. The iPhone is the wagon and I hope the STORM prospers.

[bornlikethis38]

I hate you people who think that everyone is copying the iphone. it is just simple business practice to make something the public wants. a copycat would look just like the iphone. the other phones all have different designs. and if you come back to this comment with, "they all look the same cuz they are all rectangular and have large touch screens in front.." can you think of any other way to make touch screen phone. fools!

[bbored130]

How is it an Iphone copycat? What because it has a touch screen? Touch screen has been around for years and nope Apple wasn't the first to use it... I believe a company called Treo did many yrs ago..... why because it can play music like a music player? hmmm many devices have been doing that for yrs before the Iphone was even a thought... why because it can do internet using HTML? nope... there have been handsets prior to that had full HTML access.... oh maybe it's because it can link itself the Apple store... (who cares about that feature...) so what was the original idea that Apple had with the Iphone????? The way the experts see it, Apple launched their version of a multi-media device that has been on the market for years and they wanted their share of the profits..... so the only device I know of that is a "COPY CAT Iphone" is that piece of junk selling on Ebay for $100..... the Storm was never intended to copy anything... that's what we in the industry call media hype..... RIM just wanted to tap into the younger genre and take their fair share of the profits..... hmm kinda what Apple did when they created the Iphone....

So really tired of all the MAC Elitest.....

[BerryClick]

I know many people think that VZW is the evil empire, but in my area (NYC 'burbs) its by far the best game in town. I use a Blackberry today and I CAN NOT use an iPhone because I will not put up with shoddy service. In any selection process for a new phone, I would think that strength of network should be a driving force.

I don't see how the Storm is any less anything than the iphone from a features perspective (possible exception being the app store) and I certainly think that the VZW network gives the Storm some instant user credibility. I follow Blackberry Storm developments at BerryClick. com

[MetalWych]

You are right, and BB is going live with their App Store next year. Verizon is so much faster than AT&T. The Storm is great!