The company’s initial venture in the touch screen smartphone market, with BlackBerry Storm, did not achieve much success. Though RIM managed to sell about a million devices, it failed to capture iPhone market share.
The reason: BlackBerry Storm failed to live up to its name.
Many users had raised concerns over its performance as they found it buggy and hard to use. Though these issues were taken care of with subsequent software upgrades, it lost users’ trust.
The new version, BlackBerry Storm 2, hopes to erase all negative memories and live up to users’ expectations. The exact dates of launch or price have yet not been released but the product is expected to ship next month, at approximately the same price as its predecessor.
Key product features
Like Storm, the new version will be available exclusively on Verizon Wireless in the nation.
The Storm 2 is more or less identical to its predecessor. It has retained Storm’s clickable touchscreen interface but has added upgrades like faster typing and multi-touch capabilities, thus allowing users to type on more than just one part of the screen at a time.
Further, the new version will have its predecessor’s controversial SurePress technology that requires users to press down the screen rather than just touch it to operate certain functions. While Storm had one SurePress sensor, its successor will have four such sensors.
The smartphone will come equipped with Wi-Fi capability, a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording. Also, BlackBerry has revamped 3.5mm stereo headset, which had caused problems in the earlier device.
The memory has almost doubled to 256MB. Though the device has only 2GB storage capability, the phone will come with a microSD card, which will increase storage to as much as 16GB.
Overall, the device performance has been enhanced.
End users not really convinced
Storm 2 indeed looks promising, but majority of the users, who have had a bad experience with the initial version, do not think that way.
A user named ADVENT commented on engadget.com “After buying the storm 1, I will be forever cynical about RIM's promises.”
Another user named sp33dyf33t posted his view on the same forum saying, “I really hope Verizon doesn't screw this one up. I feel like they are banking on this phone a little too much. I know Verizon wants to focus on the service, but come on! It's ridiculous that VZW customers have to wait for a sequel to one of the crappiest phones ever to get excited about a phone. Am I right?”
“Once bitten (Storm 1), twice shy. I'll wait this time...” stated a user named Bluehorseshoe on CrackBerry.com.
Another user named cegraham6 commented on Yahoo Tech “I was dead set on getting a Storm 2 from the time I heard it announced. That is, until I saw the Samsung Rogue. Half the price, lower monthly fees, bigger AMOLED screen, qwerty keyboard and no mandatory e-mail which I didn't want anyway. Sorry Blackberry, ya been one-upped.”
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