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?

[MarketMan909]

It's amazing to see the amount of articles and blogs, ect. about how some product isn't good because they didn't add the "nuro-ometer omega twelve quadra linking web browser" with the option to add on "sub connecting pod diodes". All you nerds are so concerned with no having every single option known to man all on one device. WAKE UP!!!! It's NEVER, EVER EVER going to happen. Do you realise how product design works. NO MANUFACTURER puts every single option at their disposal on their product. What the hell would they have to sell next year if they did? Answer: NOTHING! if you don't like that the storm doesn't do something that the I-phone does....JUST WAIT....it will come out next year, although it will lack something else, just so that you will feel at home on the internet and have something else to ***** about....

[oldmanangry]

I like how you blame the "main stream media" while CNET and News.com constantly follow Steve Job's every single move like the King of the Britons has just come through town.

[webboy634]

Two words. Corporate Email.

I'd buy an iPhone in a nanosecond, but wait...one MASSIVE problem. It's not a blackberry. There's a reason the blackberry is the corporate email device. RIM finally decided to put out a touchscreen blackberry. Give it time; it'll be iPhone 3.0.

[nativeray911]

No kidding people know more about the iphone. It has been out for how long? The only reason a lot of people don't know about the Storm is that Verizon is not advertising that much yet. The storm is going to blow the iphone out of the water. They only thing that the iphone has over the Storm is wifi. Big deal with a data plan who needs it. Every other feature the Stom has is better then the iphone. To name a few- cut and paste, better camera, removable battery, upgradeable memory and this is just a few. This smart phone is going to take the world by storm.

[OnTheFence]

I think all this back-and-forth banter between Storm and iPhone fits right into the buzz that will generate interest in BB's new product. I love technology. Whether I sport an iPhone in one hand and a BB Curve in the other is irrelevant to me. The eyebrow-raising question for me is: Can this new BB product bridge the gaps left open between the culture-forward iPhone and the competing mass of smartphones out there. I mean, let's face it -- Apple hit a goldmine in targeting the young-and-trendy. These Y&T's are the buzz makers because of the amount of creativity that surrounds them, and the network of people they are connected to. Case in point: it takes one trendy, semi-tech savvy college kid to create and perpetuate a culture out of an Apple product like the iPhone; conversely, what need would a ball-bustin' wall streeter or money-cruncher have that would make them look further than a BB Pearl or 8800 series?

This said, I go back to my initial question. Does this new BB gadget come close to filling in the blanks the iPhone has left? Because... no matter how much I dig the iPhone, I still find it funny that you can't cut, paste, or copy on it; the unique iChat-esque messaging seems like a novelty for the sake of difference since it doesn't filter into a folder (which is basically a mobile phone standard), oh and the no video capture thing --wassu wit dat? A cheapie Pantech can shoot video!... I know these are little things, but these little things are mobile basics --to do without them is really a questionable move. Still, kudos to iPhone for being the first on having intuitive technology sweetly mingled with some hot pop flavah.

Factor in the new BB Storm. Will a touchscreen with some new kind of feedback really make that much of a difference? If BB tells me that I can feel the texture of an individual button when I depress the suspended screen in any of the three typing modes, then maybe I can say, "Ooo! How tactile of you! Do that again!" If the screen behaves as smoothly and as responsively as the iPhone / iPod Touch, then I say, "Aaaight! Bring it on!" Of course, propz to the higher quality (as per tech specs) camera that also shoots video, the expansion slot for additional memory, the retention of standard mobile phone capabilities, and the three typing modes -- and okay, fine... the suspension system that allows the screen to behave like a button (a great, big button) -- and a whole host of other things you don't have to pay extra for over an App store. STILL... will it really hold up? Or will it eventually get lost in the sea of also-rans? To be fair, touch technology, though revolutionized by iPhone in the mobile category, isn't anything new, right?! The Palm Zire was touch, and that was out way before the iPhone.

So on what real grounds will iPhone and Storm duke it out? Will it come down to substance or style? And... who will be the first to truly come close to sitting right on the fence without falling into some mobile bermuda triangle?

And about the North America (US) network... oh what the heck... all our phones will be capitalistically locked forever.

[nativeray911]

Don you have to do some research first. You can't write an article like that without looking into to the facts, you have no idea as to what your talking about. I'm wondering if you got a kickback from Apple to write this. If you did. I hope it was enough; because you made yourself sound like a fool. Every person I know that "HAD" an iphone "about 22" took it back and got a blackberry or paid the early termination fee and went to another carrier. AT&T is not a good service and there are a lot of problems with the iphone. The Blacberry Storm is going to crush any touch screen phone. Just wait you'll see. The only reason there is a hype difference is because of the lack of advertising.

[Imthetalkofnewyork]

I think the Storm will be a great item for this holiday season. It will sell like crazy to all the corporate leaders as well as those that are just starting off in the business world. It will also capture the market of those young people that don't want at&t. The one thing we are all forgetting here is that the service is what matters after all. My entire family was on verizon and we still are except for my younger brother who thought he was "cool", and went to at&t to get the iPhone. Did I think about going to at&t? SURE DID...But the truth behind it is that the service is a disgrace. I don't know how it's okay for them to advertise "fewer dropped calls than any other carrier" when they simply can't make calls to begin with. No one in my family can get in touch with my brother unless he is outside somewhere. Had iPhone been on verizon, it would have sold far more then it has now. Bottom line is that a phone will sell better if it is put on a better service. Thats why the Storm will be a great competitor. I have the voyager which is definitely not an iphone killer but it does everything a phone should do, like make and receive calls WHEN I WANT AND NEED TO, send and receive texts, pix and videos ( iPhone cannot do video) and a plethora of other things. The one good thing that the iPhone has that no other phone will touch is the capability to sync to iTunes, the App Store and has wifi. I have an ipod touch which has wifi so my storm will be fine without it. The people that work behind the iPhone do deserve the credibility, its just a shame that verizon didn't pick them up when they had the chance.

[mikecumbow]

RIM has done a poor to horrible job in the marketing dept. I was told the phone would be out the first week of November, then it was the 15-16th and now the 23rd. At this point the Verizon reps can not provide details nor pricing for the phone nor even really promise a delivery date. Having just come from ATT (by force my company switched vendors) and being a very happy iPhone user I am not only disappointed in the blackberry curve (what a piece of c--p) but even more so in the waiting and lack of information, pricing ect from RIM on their phone. Even if it is as good or better than the iPhone, this incredibly poor launch of their phone has cost them business. I gave my iphone to my HS son and my middle school son will get one at christmas. Neither will get the RIM version, mainly due to the fact that
know one knows when it will come out. SO for the next two years my sons and their mom will be using iPhones not RIMS and encouraging their friends to use them. MY first suggesting to RIM is fire the Marketing dept and Product Launch team, they have screwed this one up. When iPhone ends its exclusitivity and can be easily used on all vendors systems, RIM will look back at this launch and know why they are getting their butts handed to them. **** POOR MARKETING AND POOR PRODUCT LAUNCH. The sales force will pay the price for the product managers inability to do the job they were paid to do.

[bbored130]

Launch November 21..... stores will open at 7 am.... price point $199.99 after $50 MIR with a 2 yr agreement...

[shinakka]

Well, I've had AT&T before. However, I would never go back to AT&T because I constantly dropped calls. People can make a big deal about how neat the iphone is but once you have experianced how horrible AT&T is, you wouldn't want to switch over anyway.

[bbored130]

Wow... I wonder if the original column that was written was done to provoke just that... all these blogs and comments. I have seen a plethera of comments and blogs about an item that hasn't launched yet and I submit that maybe 1% of the writers haven't even played with, let alone seen in person the Storm.

So if I may shed some light on the situation.

Verizon Wireless will open several stores at 0700 November 21 for the launch of the device. They should have enough to meet the demand but just in case you are one of the late arrivals they can order you one with free 2 day FEDEX shipping.

The device itself does run on America's Most Reliable Network (taken from JD Power & Associates / Consumer Reports for the last 5 yrs now). Verizon's 3G network (data side providing internet/email service) is the largest in the nation providing coverage to over 80% of the US while AT&T covers about 40% (not sure where AT&T gets there claim to be the largest). This makes WiFi obsolete unless you want to use it at your home... (Why??) This network will only become larger as the purchase of Alltel completes early next year. So WiFi (really not such thing as wireless fidelity / only used as a marketing ploy) is needed when your wireless company cannot support the data features on your handset... remember when Iphone launched it had severe data issues with it being slower than dial up and still AT&T has this issue in over 60% of the nation so WiFi becomes important to that device to make it work.

So the Storm will be able to do the regular stuff that all blackberrys could do in the past with a few new mods....

- better camera so 3 mg is a nice touch oh and you can send pics directly to another mobile device (unlike the I-phone) and you don't have to send it using email
- compatible with just about all the music formats to include AAC
- cut, copy and paste utility
- Suretype keyboard as well as full keyboard
- streaming video (yeah you can watch you tube vids)
- full HTML browser
- comes with 8gb removable memory card (I-phone has only built in memory)
- you can change out your battery when you want to so no need to ship it back to Apple to change batteries.
- visual voice mail is now available on this device
- quad band phone for global use


a bunch more stuff too...

So the price point for this device will be $199.99 after $50 MIR on a 2 yr agreement.

[Captaintae]

Wow. This review is worthless. It says nothing to what the storm can do, which is what I think 99% of people are looking for, but instead speaks to how much the author loves the iphone based solely on reputation. And embarrasing display of *** kissing towards apple.

[AppleSuxLeo]

It`s already starting off better than the iPhone in Europe. In England you get it FREE on a two year contract.
(Jaws hitting floor)

[Zandora777]

What a stupid article. "Storm is no iphone" yet he goes on to say its probably a great phone but it just won't get noticed. The title of the article is misleading.

[ceoce]

Yes Don, yu must be a back door employee of Apple And CNET.... dont comment on something yu dont know...

[dirty55409]

For me the fact that people DON'T know about it is appealing to me. I relate the owner of an Iphone to a moth. They are drawn to it because they can't help themselves. (it is a good device) But that isn't why they buy one typically. It is bought purely because they are drawn to fancy shiny objects that they are told is cool by hours and hours of being bombarded by ADs about it. Take the Pearl 8100 for example. It is or at least back a few years ago, wasn't a huge buzz device but I see more people coming into my place of business (Neiman Marcus aka rich jerk ville) and I see 10 Blackberry Users for every 1 Iphone User. There are actually quite a few smart people who want smartphones as opposed to glitzzy glamorous brand Identification..... And by the time the exclusive rights end for Verizon I bet you there will be Sprint, and AT&T versions of the Storm WITH WI-FI! The phone doesn't have Wifi in it because Verizon wants you to buy their broadband expensive data plan.

[Hazzi15]

I agree 100% with you but i disagree that the Verizon data plan is expensive it's the same price as the other carriers. 29.99 thats what you pay for an unlimited data plan in Verizon and AT&T! and you get unlimited internet access everywhere verizon has coverage which is almost everywhere as far as I personally go. As i said in many blogs before, the storm lacking WiFi is not a problem for me, because places that have WiFi like the workplace and home will def. have PCs in em. Places without WiFi, having WiFi in your phone is def. not gonna help! also i would like to share this with you all, on my way from Pennsylvania and exactly in Camden county, it was me and my friend driving and i tried to use his iphone (AT&T of course) to do some research on google, and i couldnt get anything, of course there was no WiFi since we're driving and it seems like AT&T brodband coverage does not include Camden county so i was holding his useless iphone feeling bad for him since he has to pay for an unlimited data plan anyway (99.99) my LG EnV with the data plan was able to go online and i was able to google what i wanted of course i dont have the screen and the clarity of the iphone but at least i was able to go online. Please before you judge the storm which i ordered just think how much do you need WiFi and how many times did you actually use it.

[mistaeric]

He's very wrong about people not noticing the STORM coming! My local news showed a line forming for people getting a pre-sale receipt for the Storm. You're Again buddy. You appleheads kill me,if Steve Jobs invent a mobile phone you can dial with your ass cheeks,you people will camp out in front of the A T &T store!! Its very sad :-(

[TMcNasty]

Just because Jobs gets up on a stage somewhere whenever he releases something and spoonfeeds it to the media and they spoonfeed it to you doesn't make the iPhone better than anything else. The same way that when the White House invites the media into the press briefing room it doesn't make anything GWB has to say any more comprehendible.

Jobs reminds me of a snake oil salesman whenever he does it. OK fine wonderful great your iPhone is fantastic...enough with the show!
"Hear ye hear ye...step right up! Get yourself a red-hot iPhone before their all gone. He you...young man...have we ever met? Come up on stage here sonny and try this phone...tell the people what you think!" Ha.

Just release your damn product and shut up! How many CEO's pull this stunt? Cmon. THATS the only reason casual people knew anything about the iPhone before the release. Don't act like the magically absorbed the knowledge thru their own research or thin air. IT WAS FED TO THEM!

Bottom line is if you want an iPhone you need to saddle up w/ ATT/Cingular. No thanks...been there done that. I like my calls to not drop every 5-15 minutes and for my bills to be under $200.

[sassygirltraccy]

worst frickin' mistake of my life shouldn't have rushed to judgement.... i rushed to Vodafone to get the Storm and now I'm stuck with a 2 year contrat

the phone part is good but the smartphone features are so frickin' slow and buddy, so buggggggggggy like all ends today.....

so should have read more reviews. i say read this and you'll hear me

http://admiralh.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/why-the-blackberry-storm-is-no-iphone-killer/

<a href="http://admiralh.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/why-the-blackberry-storm-is-no-iphone-killer/">http://admiralh.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/why-the-blackberry-storm-is-no-iphone-killer/</a>

[ami1111]

i agree that verizon is a better service

but the storm.............is garbage

[GORP13]

EASY QUESTION. IF THE TOUCH SCREEN IS DAMAGED OR BROKEN, HOW DO YOU CALL? IF THE SCREEN IS INOP, YOU COULDN'T EVEN CALL 9-1-1 COULD YOU? MAYBE I'LL WAIT FOR THE 2ND SERIES. MAYBE IT'S LIKE WAITING FOR VISTA TO IMPROVE. CHANCES ARE, I NEED TO WAIT FOR A BETTER PHONE.