Video: BlackBerry Storm 2 gets yet another prerelease review
By Jacob Schulman 
posted Aug 15th 2009 7:04PM
posted Aug 15th 2009 7:04PM
Still not convinced that the BlackBerry Storm 2 is alive and kicking in places outside of RIM's "secure" labs up in Waterloo? How's a seven minute long video showing off this perennially-leaked device for all you skeptics? The blur-free video shows off the updated SurePress screen that only clicks when the unit's actually in use, as well as some size comparisons with the Onyx and Tour. The mystery man behind the camera says that even though his OS is super old -- at least by pre-release firmware standards -- it's much faster than the previous-gen Storm. Also interesting is the fact that WiFi doesn't appear to be present in the "Manage Connections" screen, although we can almost say with 100% certainty that there will be WiFi at launch. The full video's posted after the break, conspiracy theorists: go wild.
[Thanks, bighap]
[Thanks, bighap]
Urgh. Such ugly devices. You'd never see Michelle Obama, the First lady, using these!
It's not like Michelle Obama looks better than Michaëlle Jean Canada's first lady (in a way).
But yes James they should stick to Iphone, since it allows the president to do more than one thing at a time. First phone a president should get.
What's the matter, guys? Too many buttons? Or is it just the wrong fruit?
I mean, I love the Obama's, I love what the Barack have done so far and will do in the future, but that was just plain fanboyish.
These blackberrys are gorgeous! They don't have all the minimalism of the iPhone, but they are a helluva lot better for business, and besides, Mrs. Obama probably wouldn't be seen with one of these due to the normal presidential security protocol.
The Barack?
Jeez, I must be an Obama fanboy...
You anti-Apple people really are blind.
Michelle Obama is also not the president. No one in their right mind would buy a phone from a company that:
1) Took 3 generations to figure out cut n paste is important!
2) Also took 3 generations to figure out how to record video!
3) Is not compatible with 90% of the third party companies.
4) used to use firewire, LMAO
5) insults other companies like PCs, and when PC retaliated they beg them to stop. LMAO AGAIN!
Just wondering where do you check your emails? I use Outlook! Does email even exist in your world?
FYI I would never buy this phone. It lost it's meaning of being a blackberry.
@iLoveApple,
How am I a blind anti-apple-person when I own an iPhone and I posted that comment below which is mildy Apple Fanboyish?
Blind? Look who's talking!
Can we just end this now before Joshua has to shut down commenting?
M.Obama looks like a tranny dressed up.....
Look/sounds boring too me. Is it just me or others feel the same? Give me reasons why I should upgrade or buy!
Michelle Obama looks like a freak. I'd rather do Oprah.
Although your blinding fury and desire to belittle the iPhone (although I didn't even mention the iPhone, nor Apple...) prevented all of you from seeing the joke in my comment, I must say that I would consider Michelle Obama to be a MILF... in a strange way.
Michelle Obama looks exactly like Warf from Star Trek. One ugly man...ew
lol if you really call these devices 'ugly' ... you are a tool.
I downranked everyone who commented on the first post, hooray!
Do the math: http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m70/hugh_jardohn/MichelleNewsweek.jpg
MOST LOW RANKS EVA!!!
Nice. I would love to get one of these, but I think I would rather wait and see if (when?) Verizon launches their iPhone.
Sorry if I sounded like a fanboy. I honestly tried not to, there just isn't anyway to say it without sounding fanboyish.
I'd like to see Verizon with an iphone too. Getting tired of waiting though. Seems like Verizon can never get a cutting edge phone. I would have even considered a pre.
> pre
> iphone
lol. hes using AT&T on the storm. verizion = fail.
Yea, I saw that flash before the Verizon home screen as well. What's up with that?
I heard things about the SIM card slot in the original Storm allowing it to be used on US GSM networks, does the same hold true for the Storm 2?
ATT=FAIL.
Typical ATT signal, no 3G!
He's gotta use edge 2G, haha.
Get a Verizon account buddy.
@Beever
wow. you must know nothing about phones because if you did you would know that ATT and Verizon use different wireless bands. meaning, he physically cant get ATT 3G. its because of the hardware in the phone thats limiting him not ATT service. and to be completely honest, in my area ATT has the most prominent coverage. better than Verizon. by all means i am not a fanboy of any wireless provider i just use what works in my area. and from the looks of it hes inside an office building, probably a large one, where many people of different wireless providers and phones may get low to no reception.
This is definatley real, but did anyone else catch the fact that he had a 2 gb memory card in there and when he pulled up the memory stats it said the card had 14.7 gb of freespace? Whats up with that
its 1.8 gb internal memory, the memory card had over 14 gb of useable space
No no I understand that. But look in the beginning of the video where he is showing off the hardware and he takes off the batter cover (1:37/7:11 ) the memory card clearly says sandisk 2 gb. But then in his memory stats it says he has 14 gb of space to use.
Yea, I saw that too.
Not sure whats going on here.
See, there could be 16gb of internal memory, but why would it be listed in "Media Card", and why would the SD card be listed under "Device Memory"?
Maybe the firmware is really old and they got the readings mixed up on the front end, thus the device has 16gb of internal memory. Or for some reason, the reviewer didn't use that exact same phone to show off the software.
I follow your logic and it makes sense. Although I work in the
industry and the blackberry reps ( albeit not the most reputable sources for information)
have all told me that blackberry wants the end user to stick to media
cards for the mainstream storage because it produces a greater chance
the the card will survive and can be recovered in the event you
catastrophically break your phone versus the chances of your internal phone memory surviving something like that and still be able to be read to recover data. Makes sense considering the first
gen storm had 1gb of internal space and shipped with an 8gb card. I
think its either a major glitch or he switched devices like you said
in your last sentence.
Well, the video certainly looks to be a compilation of multiple videos. The part showing the memory screen could very well be a different video in which he had a 16gb microsd card inserted into the phone.
He should remake the video without the added "personal sound effects."
Pow! Pow!
Obviously the guy who made the video is one person.
when he showed the photos on the phone it took a pretty long time to go from portrait to landscape as he rotated the screen. The zune hd does it lightning quick compared to the storm. (i know it isnt a phone)
It is a pre-release running on an older OS than what the phone actually will ship with. And while pretty much everything with an accelerometer nowadays runs faster than the phone in this video, you have to remember: It's still lightning speed compared with the original Storm.
That is the important thing. The split-second wait in this video is leaps and bounds ahead of the "is this screen ever going to rotate?" the first Storm had.
As someone who is has been quietly shopping for a new smartphone for awhile now, I can honestly say that a RIM device is in the top 3, especially since I'm with Verizon. The first Storm wasn't has bad as reported, but a 2nd gen version was definitely needed.
a touch screen blackberry seems to defeat the entire point of going blackberry, imo
right now i'm trying to decide between the curve 8900 or the iphone (and as i have a mac, iphone is probably going to win for syncing reasons)
Uncontrol, if you're patient enough (which I'd hope you are), Blackberry is launching a Mac version of the Blackberry Manager software. Even then, if it is only for syncing reasons and not necessarily due to updates (which you would need to do regardless the device), there are still other official options from Blackberry.
That said, it's totally your call what device you go for.
Yeah, I saw the Mac version of Blackberry Sync ...
The other problem I have with Blackberry is the evidently less than stellar media player and browser. However, everyone at my new job seems to have a Blackberry (I don't think it's mandated by the company, though).
The curve's lack of 3G is killing me though ... and the Bold has no Wi-Fi.
Decisions :(
@Uncontrol
On Att the Bold has Wifi... I thought all blackberry bolds have wifi, dont they?
That is fellow Crackberry user Salomondrin. He is the one who always manages to get pre-realese BB devices. (i.e. 9630, 8520)
have fun taking all those videos down rim
I don't know what's with all the apple fanboys on this site. Are they that afraid that something could actually challenge their oh so high and mighty iPhone 3Gs that has been dedicated to the worst possible wireless companies (at least in North America) possible, be it for their network stability or their merciless gouging?
I will say this first and foremost: anyone in the business world goes to a blackberry long before they even glance at a very un-secure (and incredibly fragile) iPhone. So to iJames and iLoveApple, if either of you use your iPhone 3Gs or iPhone 3G for business... have fun with the security protocols there mes amies (and I'm completely aware of how I spelled that thank you). If your battery fries (which is likely in the 3Gs if you didn't do your update... and still possible if you did), have fun without your phone awaiting your replacement while I just get a new battery. I could tear into it more but I'll pass thanks.
I, myself, actually like this device. As Eric up there just said, the first gen Storm wasn't as bad as first reported (yes, there were flaws... why do you think there's 3 versions of the iPhone in 3 years?). A couple firmware updates fixed the biggest issues pretty quickly (yes, I did call 6 months "pretty quickly"). And what's more, not only is it on a stronger network (Telus / Bell up here in Canada, Verizon down there in the USA), but a more widely spread network too with a great deal more 3G access.
The device is greatly improved, and from all what I've seen, if it's running like this on the old OS build, not what it will launch with, then it is going to be one sweet device. I, for one, can hardly wait for the launch.
yeah what's with all the apple fanboys!?!?
*rips into iphone; is an obvious blackberry fanboy*
heaven forbid we be objective
lol Uncontrol :P
Don't get me wrong, I totally respect the iPhone, I believe in it's potential :) it is a great device :) I just don't see why some people seem to exalt it over all other devices. I love choice, I love selection. I love that Windows Mobile does what it does and does it relatively well. I love that Blackberry is such a solid system (in more ways than one). I love that the iPhone is so media-central. I hate that people see one device as the end-all-be-all :P
Wow I was just thinking on the way home from the movies that we should be seeing alot more of the storm 2 if it's going to be released September. And what do you know, I get on Engadget and theirs a new video of it lol, nice.
What happened to the Blackberry CEO stating that the next version wouldn't have that click screen thing?
I don't think he ever said that. I remember reading the words, "SurePress is here to stay."
intrigued