BlackBerry Storm update landing tomorrow, bringing lots of good stuff (update: now with changelog!)
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 24th 2009 11:01AM
posted Oct 24th 2009 11:01AM
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Update: Check out the full (purported) changelog after the break!
BlackBerry Storm - MR3 (5.0) Software Release
OEM: RIM
Model: 9530
Software Version: 5.0.0 Release 508(OS 4.2.0.128 / Applications 5.0.0.328)
Approval Date: 10/22/09
Available through the following methods:
Over The Air Software Loading (OTASL): NOT AVAILABLE for this upgrade.
Desktop Manager Software Loading: Customers will have access any time after
10/25 10PM Eastern time.
Web Based Software Loading (WebSL): Customers will have access any time
after 10/25 10PM Eastern time.
A software update to help enhance the performance on your BlackBerry ®
StormTM smartphone is now available. From your computer go to
www.verizonwireless.com/storm, select "Software Download" and follow the
on-screen instructions. Thank you, Verizon Wireless
New software has been approved for the RIM Blackberry Storm (9530), and will
be available effective 10/25/2009 at 7 PM PST for customers. Communication
will be provided to customers via a "Pin Message" to their device stating:
Symptoms Resolved:
* Significant improvements in rotation detection and screen painting have been introduced in this software.
* Device displayed a white bar at the bottom of the screen after a rotation event.
* When setting a custom SMS tone for a single contact, this tone may playback unexpectedly for SMS' received from other contacts.
* When swiping down the virtual keyboard in an MMS message the send and save draft icons did not appear as expected.
* When viewing an SMS there was no simple way to call the current user. Now the user can select the number from the Callback Number field or from the message body and call that number from the pop up menu.
* The delete prior function has the unwanted side-effect of triggering the compose email screen.
* The user cannot configure their profile settings to increase the number of alerts when being notified of an event such as incoming SMS or email.
* Previous software versions did not allow the user to increase the count of notifications (i.e. Beep 5 times when when I get an email and beep 3 times when I get an sms). In this software, this is now allowed with counts from 1-10.
* When trying to set a home screen background of a certain resolution (more specifically a resolution matching either the width or the height of the native resolution of the LCD) it may have appeared as a black screen.
* When trying to edit/create a folder, the virtual keyboard did not render to allow the user to enter the names of said folders.
* Intermittently, when streaming a video while doing a handover to 2G on a 3G network the video would stop playing.
* If you paused a video recording and then resumed, the icon state may not have reflected the current recording state.
* After recoding a video of a certain size (7M) the saved video may be corrupted and unplayable.
* During manual network selection, the radio buttons associated with the networks did not render as expected.
* When moving out of coverage your device display for no coverage may have been inconsistent.
* During voice calls, your device may have reset on a rare occasion.
* After viewing and accepting the End User Licensing Agreement of the App World application the application doesn't startup (fixes introduced in the latest version of App World).
* On some rare occasions, the device may reset on its own during a voice call or while idle.
* During an MTP side load of 16GB of music, the device would leak memory and stop the transfer at ~75%.
* During device full boot-up, the progress bar skips from 0% complete to ~66% complete instead of showing a gradual progression (Note: from 66% to 100% it does show a gradual progression).
I can't wait!
But you will!
You can't be serious. :) Storm is the shittiest touch phone on
the market right now, especially for the price.
Crackberry.com is reporting that it might have been pushed back to Monday the 26th.
That's what I was going to say.
Why is that PC running XP? Win 7 has been out for a full 2 days now! :)
Now they removed the taskbar from the screenshot, Engadget ruining our fun!
I have two friends that recently bought this phone (stupid I know, but they won't listen to me) they will be so pleased to hear this news.
It really isn't a bad phone after all the recent updates, and of course this one.
Will the software update activate the missing WiFi chip? Didn't think so. That's a major reason for waiting for Storm2 (as well as a much better SurePress screen that sucks less than before. It is good that RIM is updating the software for the previous version (like Apple does for iPhones). WinMo, not so much....
LOL !! Are these your two friends ? :P
@ameen
..No.
Just tell me this...will my Storm NOT lock up on me ALL THE TIME like it does now? SHEESH!
I installed 5.0.0.323 a few days ago which was posted on CrackBerry on my Storm 1 and it's a huge difference over the prior 4.7 version I had. Text input is much faster and lags a LOT less. The phone can actually keep up with how fast my fingers want to go. There are a lot of speed improvements across the board. They still have some work to do with image viewing (it's still terribly slow) but it's getting better.
That mythical software update ENGADGET heard about just last week*
I almost threw my storm a few minutes ago. I will now spare it's life for a little while longer.
Don't get me wrong, the storm is great in many ways. It just freezes up constantly, forgets to rotate, and won't unlock after I get any sort of notif.
I loaded the OS 5.0.0.230 firmware a few weeks ago and reverted because it had a few bugs with locking the device (which was to be expected).
Lemme tell you that now that OS 5 makes the Storm so much more usable. Reverting back was a very painful experience. This is excellent news for me, since I actually have to use my Storm for work, so I'm extremely excited.
Forgetting to rotate... Freezing after notifications....... Hmm seems kind of like my iPhone. Haaaa
can't wait for storm2.!!!
haha sounds like the storm. My friend had one for all of a week before getting rid of it.
I'm kind of surprised they even kept the name, I hope they can turn it into a reliable device this time around. I'm always looking for a good alternative to my iphone.
I am so ready to throw the phone as well. And have been telling people not to buy one and to wait for the new version. But, with this new 5.0 software, i am very anxious to see how it kicks the Storm back into shape. and then i might actually wait till my NE2 discount kicks in. We will see.....
LOL, don't believe the hype folks. A software upgrade for a phone that has deficient hardware is not going to solve the problem. I have been running the leaked version of 323 for just about a week and have been testing almost all of the software leaks for the Storm. Though it has gotten a little more stable, the phone is still prone to freezing, random lag and crashing and still needs a battery pull just about every day. Just do like I plan to do and take advantage of the multi-fru process VZW is planning to offer Storm 1 users when the Storm 2 is released.
this post smells like BS to be honest.
.191 on the Storm i went an entire week without having to pull the battery. Memory management on the new OS is much better and not leaking memory all over the place unless you think you have an iphone and try to download every app in the App World.
Numerous people on the latest .323 will call you out on this one as well.
I'm going to agree with lol ifail phanbois. What the hell are you doing with your phone that you need to pull the battery every day? I've had absolutely no issues with 5.0.0.323 so far. It may not be up to iPhone standards as far as speed is concerned, but it's a hell of an improvement over 4.7.
Another satisfied .323 user here as well. It's much more usable, and while it still has minor glitches, is a huge improvement over 4.7.
Regardless, I'm looking forward to ditching my Storm for the Droid/HD/Dragon/....
The Storm on 5.0 is a huge difference than it was when it first launched on .65 (.75 sucked too, .148 was mediocre but a huge improvement)
While i left my Storm behind for the Bold back in Sept, the 5.0 builds pull the Storm very very close to the Storm 2, and id say easily within 5% of the new Storm 2.
If you have a perfectly functioning Storm right now, i wouldnt be jumping up and down to buy the Storm 2 to be honest, a new screen click (that is based off the software btw) an extra 128 RAM and wifi isnt enough to make one dump their phone and shell out 300+ dollars (assuming you bought it one year ago and go for a one year upgrade).
If anything people will be jumping to the Droid. Its a shame but this is a lesson RIM needs to learn the hard way, they were the only game in town last year with a decent touchscreen phone on the carrier, but this year their phone seems like a mere afterthought (VZW definitely thinks so, look at the hype then and now) and only the BB faithful are really excited about this phone...
I have been a Storm owner since the beginning of last February. I have no intentions of moving over to the Storm2. The software works well on my current generation hardware, and like you, the additional memory and addition of WiFi just aren't enought to persuade me to buy the new Storm.
I've been drooling over the Droid since I first caught word of it. I'll definitely be checking it out and it will probably be my next purchase. I just need to figure out the cheapest way to keep my phone number and acquire the phone.
Too bad it took them almost a year to try and get the Storm right. I couldn't wait around for them to get it right....
Hopefully they can save this phone - the storm is the worst phone ever - the typing experience is awful , the auto-correct is mind-numbingly awful
I love seeing rim play,"We released one of the most unusable hardware-software packages, let's back pedal!"
although this is nice from a customer service standpoint. although the only true fix for SurePress is a new phone
If i didnt have my iphone, I would get one seems like a nice phone much nicer then the pre.
The Storm has been such a disappointment - there are some basic hardware problems that software cannot cure. The New Storm II is coming out and Verizon is being hammered by original Storm owners - with "why are you replacing the Storm with a II in (on average) 7 months...most equipment should and is expected to last 2 years. After 15 years of being with Verizon - I told them - unless they pay me back for the original Storm and allow me to use this money to purchase something in this current competitive market - I'm leaving VZ
The Android is on the Horizon - Sprint/Clearwire/Intel/Google - Wide Area WiFi network is pounding the pavement - quickly and broadly 4G
The speed of its availability - is incredible. I certainly will wait for making the change and I will not sign a new contract for 2 years under any circumstances. Verizon doesn't giveashit about its customers - They and RIMM were so scared of APPLE they rushed the storm to the market - onebigpieceofshit!
Yes, because all carriers should compensate you for everything always.
So you bought a dodgy phone, that's your fault. 7 months is pretty good - iPhone users got an average of 6 - 12 months til their next version came out.
If you don't like being on a contract, then just buy your phones outright - oh, but wait, then you'll probably ring up RIM or Apple or whatever DEMANDING that you get it for the same price as on-contract, or else "ohmahgawd, I'm liek, totally not gunna buy your phone EVAR AGAIN!!!!1"
actualy its been exactly 11 months that how long it takes to get anual upgrade pirce after 1 year of service so they did wait a year
@ nick
We dont take opinions from iphone users.
SP
lol too bad, maybe you should start
Seems like it got pushed back to Monday. I'm a bit surprised VZW isn't pushing this out OTA, since that'll get to the maximum number of Storm owners. I know plenty of them that would never think to check for OS updates on VZW's website, let alone know what Desktop Manager is or how to use it.
I loaded 5.0.0.323 on a friend's Storm last week and it was like a brand new phone. He's absolutely thrilled with it, so this will definitely be a welcome upgrade to Storm owners. Hopefully .328 (the rumored release version) is even better and faster than .323!
You take opinions from a lot more iPhone users than you think. >_>
OK, now where's 5.0 on every other device?
That's been my thought since the announcement. The new 5.0 leak for the Bold looks and feels pretty amazing and seems closed to being finished, so I hope AT&T announces it soon. But I don't think they'd do it before the release of the 9700.
Yeah seriously,
I've been running .230 on my Tour for a couple weeks now and it runs faster and stabler than 4.7 ever did. Maybe they're just making a bigger deal out of it for the storm so they can apease the userbase that might feel betrayed by the launch of the S2.
I'm sure all seven original Storm owners will upgrade immediately, or as soon as they can navigate to the VZW's site at www.vzw.com/nope-we-still-don't-have-the-iPhone-but-we-do-have-a-demented-homeless-guy's-iPhone-killer-called-the-Storm.html. Or, if that's too complicated, all you Storm owners can head on over to this site: www.if-you-had-a-clue-you-wouldn't-have-bought-a-touchscreen-blackberry.com.
Cheers.
I think that all two iPhone users are going to be jealous after this upgrade.
I dumped my Storm for an Imagio (which the Verizon store didn't even know they had in their back room). It beats the Storm in every way except for a few preloaded apps that it's missing, which is an easy fix.
Will autocorrect finally accept that I have a qwerty keyboard?
Outside of the small space bar, nothing about this phone drives me as nuts as the idiotic autocorrect. If I type "cakk" it should realize that, the k being next to the l, I probably meant "call." Nope, instead, as soon as I hit the small spacebar, it makes it "cake." Dammit, the e is nowhere near the k. The odds of that error are much, much less than simply having my thumb slightly to the side.
Yes, it will. It also offers the option to disable it, but the most recent leaks have it enabled by default. This works for QWERTY in both orientations.
Also, great, now we can change the number of beeps.
When will you let us change the color of the LED? Red for BBM, blue for email, green for missed call, etc? Maybe even allow us to do it for specific people.
Yes, 3rd party apps do this, but since they don't get integrated into the OS they just end up sitting on top of everything and doing it poorly.
It's gonna be OS 5.0.0.238 that is released Sunday/Monday. Not .232 that is listed on the picture above. Other BlackBerry devices are to get OS 5.0 soon after.
...I think that says .323, not .232
.328 is what everyone on CB is saying, as are screenshots of people who have to support it.
I'll admit I have suffered through my early Storm experience, with several replacements due to dust and hardware. The OS was horrible until late 4.7 builds, but thankfully 5.0 has really saved this phone.
I could live happily with the S1 using .323. It may not hold up against the Droid and followups, but S1 with 5.0 builds is a good phone.