Either the gang at Crackberry have a very good special effects department (which we doubt), or we're looking at the first footage of a working BlackBerry 9550, a.k.a. Storm 2. As noted in the video, the hardware and software is "very early stage," but that said, there's something mighty interesting going on here with the SurePress click. Turned off, the screen has no give whatsoever, but when the phone's powered up, the mysterious click returns. We talked with CB, who confirms that the whole display does in fact move in and out just a bit, although much less than its predecessor, and that sound you hear is a physical click -- guess SurePress really is here to stay, after all. The takeaway here is that it's definitely a step in the right direction and perhaps what RIM should've released from the get-go. More impressions via the read link, and check out the video for yourself after the break.
Canada; We find americans as funny as you find us amusing
PS: to all those south of Virginia: We pronounce ''route'' ''root'' because it is a French word ('une route') and that is how it was pronounced originally (more or less). 'About', on the other hand, is an English word and is pronounced the same as it is written.
And 'Eh' replaces ''is it not?'': It's a nice day, eh? - It's a nice day, is it not?
Yeah, that is an introduction to the Canadian English, Eh?
I have had a storm since day one. At first I thought I had made a big mistake, even though it was free on contract. Week later I updated the software and it was much better. Several months later and several updates I think the storm is now excellent.
I am really glad that they are keeping sure press. I know several people with the storm and they all like the sure press screen. It makes web surfing and typing much easier IMHO My accelerometer is also near instant.
A few weeks ago I was out on a photoshoot. I was walking around in the middle of nowhere with ear phones plugged in playing mp3s, while I was talking to my business partner (BB Messenger) while checking my email, while taking office calls, while geo tagging ref photos, while using google maps... not one crash or anything while doing all that at the same time. Finished the shoot, got back in the car and then used it as satnav to get me home.
Faultless and multitasking to boot. Storm is an excellent phone, which was released with the wrong software. When storm 2 is out, its going to be good fun choosing between it, the iphone and whatever winmob phone is out.
Looks promising. I love my Storm. I'm running the .151 OS and it matches my iPhone 3G in every respect. I'm gonna be torn between the Storm 2 and the Omnia 2 when they're released! Decisions, decisions....
yeah i think I'll get the omnia 2 and storm 2 cj they both look fresh and people just going off of what other people who don't even have a storm say the .151 and like day and nite.
You know, I mostly use Nokia phones because I'm a glutton for punishment, but honestly this phone seems pretty decent. Assuming some of the OS stuff gets tweaked to be a tad faster and most of the nasty bugs are ironed out, this may in fact become the business iphone, which is what Blackberry desperately is trying to pull (just make a phone nice enough that they can leverage their previous relationship with business clients to hook them on storms and ignore any infrastructure changes necessary to use something like Palm or Apple). BES still has an enormous foothold, and nobody wants to retrain people, and the days of two phones are over. So if the Storm 2 is even 75 percent the phone a 3GS is, Rim will be fine, and they know it. Any word on the GPU in this thing, that's the only thing I can think of that would make it a no go for me.
honestly surepress is really nice. When I went around stores playing with phones a couple of months ago, the storm was the only other phone that even came close to the iphone in my opinion. The surepress was great because I could type with great accuracy.
It would be really interesting if RIM makes the Storm 2 so that you can choose between SurePress or just a regular capacitive touchscreen like most other phones. That way people who like SurePress are covered, and people who are used to other touchscreen phones are covered.
Really, the only things the Storm 2 needs is that touchscreen option, Wi-Fi, and for Verizon to leave it the **** alone so you can actually use all the features of the phone with any program. Then it will be about as good as a BB can be for consumers.
Not terrible, but I don't buy the "early stages" bit anymore. When I went to the Storm conference in October 2008, the Storm was supposedly in its "early stage." The device ended up shipping with the exact same hardware, running the same damn build number.
People, People, People, have we already forgotten? The iPhone wasn't perfect when it first came out. I mean, yet it was nice and fancy looking and I'll admit very different compared to other phones. But remember iPhone had to come out with version after version, generation after generation to reach the point where they are not. Give RIM a chance. Besides apple was planning for years to drop the device they did. I doubt that RIM had any plans to drop a touchscreen phone especially since the Curve was doing so well as the best selling Smartphone. I think the device was only dropped (and might I add rushed) to keep up with this generation of mobile devices. So relax!!!
surepress nay-sayers should understand how awful touchscreens are from a human factors standpoint and RIM should understand that what makes sense academically is not the end-all answer. testing is important and to often cut by limited budgets.
choices are important; to hate the iphone, or pre?
me? i don't give a shit. i'm just an industrial designer with big hands.
Someone help me... I've been doing a lot of reading about the Storm 2 and phones coming to Verizon in the near future and I can't decide what to get. My plan is up in about a month and if I were to get a new phone now, I really don't know what I would get. I need a smartphone, and I pretty much planned on the Storm. Then I decided, why not wait because the Storm 2 is coming out... After seeing this video I am hesitant. I don't want to wait that long anyway. (The Calgary looks cool but again, don't wanna' wait.)
What the hell would you do in this situation. (And I will NOT be changing carriers. Sorry iPhone lovers.)
I LOVE my Storm 1 because it's the only phone on my carrier (Telus) with a big screen. I need this to view pdf layouts and sample shots while on location, pdf/xl docs from clients, while talking to them on the phone or receiving the latest updates via email. It also has a video camera and a decent camera with which to take concept shots etc (I'm a photographer btw). It also acts as a mass storage device, allowing me to transfer files to and from it, directly to and from my mac. I also don't mind the click screen, although the build quality is shaky. Literally.
I HATE my Storm 1 because the software OS is buggy, slow, accelerometer non-responsive, call out-going voice quality it terrble, it takes 10 minutes to boot up after a crash, and it doesn't sync nice with my Mac.
I miss my Palm Treo to tell you the truth. I hope Telus gets the Pre.
My only complaint about my Storm is that it doesn't have wifi. My house in a valley and I get no reception in my house. I have a Network extender for phone calls, but having wifi would be a nice option so I could utilize my cable connection.
Other than that, I have been very happy with this phone. I came from an XV6800, and having wifi was nice.
All these iPhone lovers and RIM haters, let me ask you this question:
How many iPhone users do you know who've had to replace their phones because the screen got shattered (in many cases just by falling a short distance)?
Now how many Storm 1 users have had to have their phones replaced because of the same thing?
RIM makes a much more durable device than does Apple. The Apple elitists refer to the RIM devices as being "clunky." But really, the Storm was quite smoothe and sylvette. I'd much rather a "clunky" device that won't break easily, as opposed to a tiny stick of a device that will shatter if you look at it funny.
That being said RIM REALLY needs to become the ground breaking development team that it used to be. If they keep recycling the same shoddy OSes, they'll acheive irrelevancy very soon.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted July 21st 2009 5:56PM
It looks cheap, too. Make it faster and smoother atleast.
unless it has an iPhone type screen, I still won't be buying it...
What exactly is an "iPhone type screen" anyway? Do you mean a capacitive touchscreen?
so? i don't think anyone here gives 2 sh!ts about what you would or would not buy. trust me, RIM will not miss you
"aboot". Dude *might* be Canadian.
Ah, Canada..... America's Attic!
Canada...America's better version.
canada-land of rednecks and maple syrup.
Canada... Making our jokes shitty.
Canada; We find americans as funny as you find us amusing
PS: to all those south of Virginia: We pronounce ''route'' ''root'' because it is a French word ('une route') and that is how it was pronounced originally (more or less). 'About', on the other hand, is an English word and is pronounced the same as it is written.
And 'Eh' replaces ''is it not?'': It's a nice day, eh? - It's a nice day, is it not?
Yeah, that is an introduction to the Canadian English, Eh?
Cheers,
-Ben
Canada: The United States but with THREE year contracts! (J/K J/K, I like Canada w00t).
Hi hoe
I have had a storm since day one. At first I thought I had made a big mistake, even though it was free on contract. Week later I updated the software and it was much better. Several months later and several updates I think the storm is now excellent.
I am really glad that they are keeping sure press. I know several people with the storm and they all like the sure press screen. It makes web surfing and typing much easier IMHO My accelerometer is also near instant.
A few weeks ago I was out on a photoshoot. I was walking around in the middle of nowhere with ear phones plugged in playing mp3s, while I was talking to my business partner (BB Messenger) while checking my email, while taking office calls, while geo tagging ref photos, while using google maps... not one crash or anything while doing all that at the same time. Finished the shoot, got back in the car and then used it as satnav to get me home.
Faultless and multitasking to boot. Storm is an excellent phone, which was released with the wrong software. When storm 2 is out, its going to be good fun choosing between it, the iphone and whatever winmob phone is out.
Do you pay for the VZW Navigator service? I wish VZW would unlock the GPS on their blackberries so we can use Google Maps + GPS....
in the uk here and on Vodafone.. its not locked at all and yes I used voda software for satnav
Looks promising. I love my Storm. I'm running the .151 OS and it matches my iPhone 3G in every respect. I'm gonna be torn between the Storm 2 and the Omnia 2 when they're released! Decisions, decisions....
yeah i think I'll get the omnia 2 and storm 2 cj they both look fresh and people just going off of what other people who don't even have a storm say the .151 and like day and nite.
and here everyone thought this shit wasnt seriously going to come with Surepress? lol
Ugh...Surepress again? Hopefully it will smooth out, specially in the landscape/portrait switching.
You know, I mostly use Nokia phones because I'm a glutton for punishment, but honestly this phone seems pretty decent. Assuming some of the OS stuff gets tweaked to be a tad faster and most of the nasty bugs are ironed out, this may in fact become the business iphone, which is what Blackberry desperately is trying to pull (just make a phone nice enough that they can leverage their previous relationship with business clients to hook them on storms and ignore any infrastructure changes necessary to use something like Palm or Apple). BES still has an enormous foothold, and nobody wants to retrain people, and the days of two phones are over. So if the Storm 2 is even 75 percent the phone a 3GS is, Rim will be fine, and they know it. Any word on the GPU in this thing, that's the only thing I can think of that would make it a no go for me.
honestly surepress is really nice. When I went around stores playing with phones a couple of months ago, the storm was the only other phone that even came close to the iphone in my opinion. The surepress was great because I could type with great accuracy.
They need an option to turn sure press on and off
It would be really interesting if RIM makes the Storm 2 so that you can choose between SurePress or just a regular capacitive touchscreen like most other phones. That way people who like SurePress are covered, and people who are used to other touchscreen phones are covered.
Really, the only things the Storm 2 needs is that touchscreen option, Wi-Fi, and for Verizon to leave it the **** alone so you can actually use all the features of the phone with any program. Then it will be about as good as a BB can be for consumers.
Oh, and firmware that doesn't take months to be decently quick and stable, can't forget that...
Not terrible, but I don't buy the "early stages" bit anymore. When I went to the Storm conference in October 2008, the Storm was supposedly in its "early stage." The device ended up shipping with the exact same hardware, running the same damn build number.
Now let us pray.
This could have been a good pre-release demo, but this guy is a tool.
SurePress is absolute garbage. It alone makes the phone not worth using.
Ugh. What a failure of a device. It looks just as bad as the first gen Storm. Verizon is TERRIBLE.
Sprint + Pre = GOOD. iPhone's good too.
People, People, People, have we already forgotten? The iPhone wasn't perfect when it first came out. I mean, yet it was nice and fancy looking and I'll admit very different compared to other phones. But remember iPhone had to come out with version after version, generation after generation to reach the point where they are not. Give RIM a chance. Besides apple was planning for years to drop the device they did. I doubt that RIM had any plans to drop a touchscreen phone especially since the Curve was doing so well as the best selling Smartphone. I think the device was only dropped (and might I add rushed) to keep up with this generation of mobile devices. So relax!!!
ah, reason at last.
surepress nay-sayers should understand how awful touchscreens are from a human factors standpoint and RIM should understand that what makes sense academically is not the end-all answer. testing is important and to often cut by limited budgets.
choices are important; to hate the iphone, or pre?
me? i don't give a shit. i'm just an industrial designer with big hands.
Looks like it will survive a drop (well more than a single drop) compared to all the other smartphones out there.
If the clicking is back, looks like i'll be getting a G2
Someone help me... I've been doing a lot of reading about the Storm 2 and phones coming to Verizon in the near future and I can't decide what to get. My plan is up in about a month and if I were to get a new phone now, I really don't know what I would get. I need a smartphone, and I pretty much planned on the Storm. Then I decided, why not wait because the Storm 2 is coming out... After seeing this video I am hesitant. I don't want to wait that long anyway. (The Calgary looks cool but again, don't wanna' wait.)
What the hell would you do in this situation. (And I will NOT be changing carriers. Sorry iPhone lovers.)
I would wait for storm 2 if you can. Not that I have any problems with my storm 1 now that the software is much more stable.
looks like video has been removed
WONKY!
BOOORING.
I did not get 1st storm
Reason 1
the build quality felt very poor.
Reason 2
VodaFone, the UK exclusuve company for the Storm was offering very poor data contracts.
Reason 3
no WiFi
Reason 4
the OS felt very beta.
This new one looks to hopefully address all the device sort comings of the 1st one.
I'm hoping T-Mobile UK get the Storm 2 as they have good coverage and very good data plans
Looks nice, I really hope this comes out for At&t.
I LOVE my Storm 1 because it's the only phone on my carrier (Telus) with a big screen. I need this to view pdf layouts and sample shots while on location, pdf/xl docs from clients, while talking to them on the phone or receiving the latest updates via email. It also has a video camera and a decent camera with which to take concept shots etc (I'm a photographer btw). It also acts as a mass storage device, allowing me to transfer files to and from it, directly to and from my mac. I also don't mind the click screen, although the build quality is shaky. Literally.
I HATE my Storm 1 because the software OS is buggy, slow, accelerometer non-responsive, call out-going voice quality it terrble, it takes 10 minutes to boot up after a crash, and it doesn't sync nice with my Mac.
I miss my Palm Treo to tell you the truth. I hope Telus gets the Pre.
My only complaint about my Storm is that it doesn't have wifi. My house in a valley and I get no reception in my house. I have a Network extender for phone calls, but having wifi would be a nice option so I could utilize my cable connection.
Other than that, I have been very happy with this phone. I came from an XV6800, and having wifi was nice.
All these iPhone lovers and RIM haters, let me ask you this question:
How many iPhone users do you know who've had to replace their phones because the screen got shattered (in many cases just by falling a short distance)?
Now how many Storm 1 users have had to have their phones replaced because of the same thing?
RIM makes a much more durable device than does Apple. The Apple elitists refer to the RIM devices as being "clunky." But really, the Storm was quite smoothe and sylvette. I'd much rather a "clunky" device that won't break easily, as opposed to a tiny stick of a device that will shatter if you look at it funny.
That being said RIM REALLY needs to become the ground breaking development team that it used to be. If they keep recycling the same shoddy OSes, they'll acheive irrelevancy very soon.