back to article Hands on with the RIM/Vodafone BlackBerry Storm

We’ve been writing about the BlackBerry Storm for months, but this morning we boarded a Vodafone tour bus to get up close and personal with the most talked about phone since the T-Mobile G1. Storm_03 RIM's BlackBerry Storm, coming 14 November But did the Storm blow us away, like its name suggests it should? First up, what …

COMMENTS

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  1. richard
    Stop

    i'm sorry?

    no wi-fi on a blackberry? what? how to instantly lose customers...

  2. Paul Boocock
    Linux

    Not the only Blackberry

    "If you’re looking for a feature rich and sexy phone then Storm’s likely to be the first BlackBerry that doesn’t just appeal to suited professionals with a penchant for 24x7 email viewing"

    I wouldn't say the first, I'm hardly a suited professional and I love my BlackBerry Bold, if you want real keys, there really is no other choice!

    Still....I wouldn't turn a Storm away, even if it is just to see how that screen feels/works

  3. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
    Stop

    Lack of Wi-Fi is a killer.

    It was going to be either the Xperia or Storm for me until I found out last month that the Storm would not have Wi-Fi as standard upon release. This is a killer mistake by RIM in my opinion.

    So I now have the Xperia and it's fab. I have used the Apple mobile phone and like the interface, but oh so typically from Apple product - it's all about style over substance so functionally and from a software enhancement point of view the Xperia is streets ahead.

    Also, contrary to a lot of views on here, Windows mobile is great and is running happy as a clam on my Xperia and compliments the Sony panels gadget and mobile shell application.

    Shame about the Wi-Fi on Storm though. It looked oh so promising too.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    No Wi-Fi...

    ... if Pigopolafone can't even give us wi-fi I suppose it's pointless asking questions like 'does it support VoIP'.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    camera

    Given blackberry's four-years-behind-the-curve track-record on camera resolutions, I want some figures. Just how many megs is it?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    money money money money . . . money!

    No WiFi and VF gearing up to start enforcing their usage limits; coincidence?

  7. Tim Cook
    Stop

    They've done what with the Wifi?

    Sorry, but no wifi = no comment. Apart from this one. That's one deeply bizarre move on the part of Vodafone (I assuming, since it's possible to "roll out" wifi later, it's their crippleware that's switched it off for now).

  8. Martin Lyne

    For. Fuck's. Sake.

    It's not hard to come up with a list of things that are NEW and GOOD to put into a phone.

    If the shitty N95 has it then something brand new should too. Had this had Wi-Fi I would have considered it over the SE X1.

    Now I'll just wait some more until someone can actually put all the good shit together in one package. Fast, quality photos, 2 memory slots, touch screen, keyboard, preferably a proper 'phones jack, wi-fi, 3G, MMS, decent battery life (2 days with moderate texting), nice styling and can withstand a few drops.

    Fuck it, I might just design my own and see if I can bodge it around a G1 or something. Doesn't anyone actually want my shitting money?!

  9. youvegot tobejoking
    Thumb Down

    no wifi = no contract

    I dont know what the hell is wrong with these corporate muppets who think they can foist stuff like this on us and we will lap it up. I bloody hate tech lock ins like this, if they think the product will be popular enough they lock it to one network and fleece any poor sap who wants it.

  10. Philip Bune
    Dead Vulture

    Bad Move by Rim

    The lack of Wi-Fi is one of the biggest mistakes that Rim could do, all of the competition has it as standard nowadays so the we couldnt fit it in excuse is just lame.

    Even the egotistical Apple was not fool hardy enough to miss that one even though its phone is aimed at the narcisus brigade.

    I like the look of the phone but no wi-fi makes it less of an option as that would of allowed for easier access to emils & documents while out of the office.

    The X1 looks like a brick & I tried the apple :(

    Form & Function is what people are looking for.

  11. Monkey

    Note the comment from VF about WiFi

    "There are plans to bring WiFi to the Storm"... does this mean the device DOES have it on board but RIM have disabled it at the request of the carrier(s)? I don't feasibly see it any other way because surely RIM wouldn't produce something like this and NOT put WiFi in there. Especially when by and large this is simply a Bold without the buttons.

    Would they REALLY be so silly as to produce a non WiFi version then bring out a WiFi one shortly after and piss off the early adopters to the point where they harm the all important consumer sales in the future .

    Educate me if I'm wrong someone, I just don't see this as been a RIM forced situation. It has to be carrier dictated surely?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: camera

    3.2 megapixels, about optimum for a camera phone's likely sensor and optics, contrary to some Register reviewers/reporters' assertions. Shame about what looks like an LED not-flash though.

  13. IvanTheTolerable
    Stop

    @camera (AC)

    ARGH! I wish you'd read the article before jumping down RIM's / Reg's throat! 3.2MP THREE-POINT-TWO Mega Pixies! It's on the first page!

  14. dan

    why does wifi matter?

    I wish there was more said about the functionality of browser, e-mail, calendar, etc... whether keyboard shortcuts are still easy to use - if I can use both full keyboard and suretype shortcuts...

    internet on a cell phone is for internet on the go - if I need internet where there is wifi available, I'll pull out the laptop.

    data limits is the only reason I can see wifi being a 'necessary' feature. I see it as more a battery drain than anything.

  15. Tim Cook

    Why Wifi?

    Like most people to whom a phone like the Storm is pitched, I'm used to browsing on my phone via my home wifi connection - it's quicker and easier than using the laptop. My mobile connection at home is patchy at best, not 3G let alone HSDPA, and therefore both far slower and potentially much more expensive than the wifi I'm already paying for separately, so why on earth would I choose a phone that couldn't use it?

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