• blackberry,  blackberry os,  rim,  verizon

    BlackBerry Storm 2 Hands On Review

    December 28, 2009 /

    I have just wrapped up my test drive of the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 smartphone. I’ve been testing out a selection of some of the more popular CDMA phones to help find the phone that will replace the corporate fleet of Palm Treo 755p’s that are in service at the company I work for.

    The Hardware

    The BlackBerry Storm 2, is Research In Motion’s second smartphone without a physical keyboard. The first was the original Storm. The BlackBerry Storm 2 measures up as being 4.43 x 2.45 x .55-inches and weighs in at 5.5 ounces. In practical terms, it is about the same size as an Apple iPhone. The Storm 2 has all of the standard hardware buttons that you would expect to find on any other BlackBerry smartphone. Unlike the buttons on the Tour, Bold, or Curve, the buttons on the face of the Storm 2 are concealed beneath a smooth sheet of plastic. The green, BlackBerry, escape, and red buttons are part of the bottom of the touch screen and the power and silence buttons are part of the top molding. Another nice touch is that there is a small, clear strip of plastic that protects the Storm 2’s 3.2MP digital camera lens and flash. The Storm 2’s battery door takes up the entire back of the device and snaps into place. Unlike the battery door on the Motorola Droid I recently reviewed, I don’t see the Storm 2’s door accidently being popped off during normal use.

    One thing that I don’t like about the Storm 2 is that the bottom extends beyond the top of the device. This gives the Storm 2 a cool, rounded edge look, but I found it hard to reach up with my left index finger to turn the screen on when I was holding the device in my left hand. The uneven edges where less of a problem when I was holding the Storm 2 in landscape mode.

    The Touch Screen

    The big difference between the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the BlackBerry Tour is that the Storm 2 is a touch screen device. There is no physical keyboard on the Storm 2 and this may turn off some people who have used BlackBerry phones in the past and prefer the hardware keyboard. Part of the reason why I wanted to test the Tour and the Storm 2 was to compare the user experience between the two devices and to see if I could use a Storm 2 for the long haul.

    The unique difference with the Storm 2 and other slate smartphones that don’t have hardware keyboards is that the Storm 2’s screen is “clickable.” Take for example the HTC Magic or the Apple iPhone 3G. Both of these devices have touch screens that dominate the face of the phone. When you tap an object on the screen, the screen remains stationary with virtually no tactile feedback. With the BlackBerry Storm 2, when you press down on the screen to tap an object, the entire screen presses down and clicks similar to the tactile feedback you get when you are clicking an icon or hyperlink on your computer with a mouse. You can hear and feel the click. It is a nice gimmick, but does it really help when you are trying to use an on screen keyboard?

    After having played with the Storm 2, the Tour, and the Motorola Droid recently, I have found that the spacing of the keys on the keyboard are more important to me than whether or not the keyboard is virtual or not. I have found that keyboards on the Palm Treo Pro and Pre are very easy to use. Similarly, the keyboard on the BlackBerry Tour was a little too close – however, the shape of the keys did help improve my accuracy. For the Storm 2, Research in Motion decided to pack in four flavors of the virtual keyboard. They are: Qwerty portrait, Qwerty landscape, two-key portrait, and three-key portrait. I found the two and three-key portrait keyboards completely unacceptable. While I completely refuse trying to peck out a SMS or email message by pressing the same key two or three times to type a letter, the younger crowd who might buy the Storm 2 as their first smartphone may find these keyboard modes familiar, more comfortable even, if they are moving up from a flip phone. With the other two Qwerty keyboard modes available for use, I see professionals selecting the formats that more closely resemble the keyboards on their desks that the ones that resemble those found on flip phones.

    After using the Storm 2’s Qwerty keyboards, I can say that I prefer the landscape keyboard the most. It offers the largest key cap clickable area of all the keyboards and the clickable screen did a good job tricking me into thinking that I was pressing a key on a physical keyboard. That isn’t to say that I didn’t make any typing mistakes, but I think that the Storm 2 offers the best on screen keyboard of all the smartphones I’ve tested so far. My one basic gripe about the landscape Qwerty keyboard is that when it is displayed, it takes up a significant portion of the screen; which can severely limit the space on the screen to see what you are doing.

    The Software

    The BlackBerry Storm 2 runs BlackBerry OS v5.0.0.320 (Platform 4.2.0.124), yet I didn’t find any noticeable difference from the BlackBerry Tour running BlackBerry OS v4.7.1.61 (Platform 4.1.0.81). One welcomed difference is that the Storm 2’s application launcher screen shows you the name of the application just below the icon. To see the name of an application on the Tour, you had to use the scroll ball to highlight the icon for the name to appear at the bottom of the launcher screen. For the most part, I didn’t see any major differences in the software bundled between the two BlackBerry’s I tested for this evaluation.

    Conclusion

    I have always stated that the decision to purchase a smartphone is very much a personal one. What works for me may not work for you. The BlackBerry Storm 2 is a capable BlackBerry smartphone that has many of the features made popular by Apple’s iPhone and you won’t have to jump ship from Verizon to AT&T to get a cool looking touch screen phone. As a BlackBerry, the lack of a physical keyboard may be a deal breaker for some corporate types, while others may welcome the increased screen realestate that comes from not having the keyboard. From a software standpoint, I found little difference between the Storm 2 and other recent model BlackBerry smartphones.

    The BlackBerry Storm 2 is available now from Verizon Wireless for $279.99 when you purchase a qualifying two year service agreement. If you order the Storm 2 from the Verizon online store, Verizon will knock an additional $100 off the price tag. For more information about the BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 smartphones, please visit the BlackBerry website.

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  • verizon

    The FCC Isn’t Happy With Verizon Wireless

    December 27, 2009 /

    In what was sure to take some of the “Merry” out of “Merry Christmas”, DSLReports.com is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has responded to Verizon’s explination of their early termination fees (ETF) for smartphones and charges of $1.99 for “phantom” web browser access without a data plan.

    Karl Bode wrote the following for DSLReports.com:

    “The problem is, the strange fee [$1.99 for simply launching the browser on a smartphone] has been documented for months by several customers, a number of newspapers, and even a Verizon whistle blower, who claimed Verizon knew about the junk fee but has done little to stop it because it generates millions in additional annual revenue. So Verizon’s letter to the FCC denying all of this is raising a lot of eyebrows, as is Verizon’s claim that a new $350 ETF for smartphones was to aid the poor (no, we’re not kidding). In a response (PDF) posted this afternoon to the FCC website, [FCC Commissioner Mignon] Clyburn says Verizon’s answers were “unsatisfying” and “in some cases, troubling”.

    The FCC document reads, in part:

    “I am also alarmed by the fact that many consumers have been charged phantom fees for inadvertently pressing a key on their phones thereby launching Verizon Wireless’s mobile Internet service. The company asserted in its response to the Bureau that it “does not charge users when the browser is launched” but recent press reports and consumer complaints strongly suggest otherwise. These issues cannot be ignored.”

    I’m glad to see that the FCC appears to be looking out for consumers. It is no secret that when you are dealing with the likes of the phone company or cable operators, or insurance companies for that matter, the consumer is on short end of the stick. Hopefully, the FCC will help balance the scales for consumers when dealing with not just Verizon Wireless, but also the other U.S. wireless carriers too.

    You can read the full article on DSLReports.com.

    “Can you hear me now?”

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

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  • blackberry,  rim,  sprint,  tour,  verizon

    BGR: BlackBerry Tour 2 Hands On

    December 24, 2009 /

    The folks over at BGR have gotten there hands on another BlackBerry. This time we get to eyeball the upcoming BlackBerry Tour 2 9650, which is a CDMA phone from RIM that will likely replace the BlackBerry Tour on Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

    The big changes for the Tour 2 seem to be a track pad and a speed bump. I really like the look of the Tour 2, however, I like the keyboard layout of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 better. Still, the Tour 2 is a nice upgrade for CrackBerry owners who haven’t upgraded to the Tour platform yet.

    Get all the details over at the BGR website.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

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  • att,  blackberry,  rim,  sprint,  verizon

    Research In Motion: YANO – Yet Another Network Outage

    December 23, 2009 /

    In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, CrackBerry users where all in a tussle because there devices temporarily transformed into door stops. Turns out that there was some more trouble at the BlackBerry network operations center (NOC), the massive data center where most BlackBerry Internet traffic is routed from.

    CrackBerry.com provided a running commentary of what was going on:

    “* Update 1: OK, preliminary word coming in is that it’s a partial outage affecting North American carriers: BlackBerry Messenger and things like the web browser and apps that use a data connection.

    * Update 2: BlackBerry data is no more. No emails, no web browsing, no BlackBerry messenger for it’s North American users. Estimated time for a fix to come through is 3 hrs to a day, yes..a day.”

    At about 6:30pm last night, I had four “dead” BlackBerry phones in my house and four BlackBerry addicts roaming around the house in a daze. We where seeing the data outage on the Verizon Wireless and Sprint networks. Based on what CrackBerry.com was reporting, no carrier was spared in North America. The good news was that my Palm Pre was still working!

    You can read the full article on CrackBerry.com.

    [Via CrackBerry.com…]

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  • blackberry,  rim

    Engadget: BlackBerry Curve 8530 Impressions

    December 22, 2009 /

    Jacob Schulman has a first impressions review of the new CDMA BlackBerry Curve 8530 up over at Engadget.com.

    Mr. Schulman writes:

    “We don’t know, but it seems like RIM has enlisted a couple more CDMA engineers because the gap between new devices launching on GSM and then making their way to CDMA has been getting noticeably smaller over time. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 was launched on T-Mobile only a few short months ago, and it’s already made its way to both Verizon and Sprint. It’s not the same powerhouse as its older sibling the Tour, but this device packs a heck of a lot of punch into a very pocketable package.”

    You can read the full hands-on review over at Engadget.com…

    [Via Engadget.com…]

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  • iphone,  itunes

    Citrix Receiver Updated for iPhone, iPod touch

    December 21, 2009 /

    Citrix has released an update to Citrix Receiver for the iPhone and iPod touch. As you can see, there is literally a boat load of enhancements and fixes in the new release.

    The things that I think users will like, include the seamless handling of Citrix accounts, the new user interface, and the ability to change session resolution.

    You can read more about Citrix Receiver for iPhone OS on the Citrix website. You can download Citrix Receiver 2.0 for iPhone OS from the Apple iTunes App Store. [iTunes link]

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  • blackberry,  rim,  web os

    eWeek: Palm webOS One of the 2009 Products of the Year

    December 21, 2009 /

    The latest print edition of eWeek hit my desk today and they listed out the best products of 2009. Being a big fan of Palm, I was delighted to see that Palm webOS made this years list of outstanding products.

    Andrew Garcia writes:

    “From the way it integrates all like communication into a single interface, to the way it seamlessly moves from local search to Web search, to its intuitive gesture-based user controls, Palm webOS is a joy to use.”

    However, Mr. Garcia also warns that one of the biggest obstacles to the success of Palm’s new mobile operating system is third-party developer support.

    Again, Mr. Garcia writes:

    “…I have my doubts as to whether third-party developers will create enough action on the platform to make it successful long term, Palm webOS is a thoughtful and well-designed mobile platform.”

    The complete list of eWeek’s products of they year are:

    1. AWS Toolkit for Eclipse
    2. Microsoft Bing
    3. RIM BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0
    4. Cisco Unified Computing
    5. Mozilla Firefox 3.5
    6. Intel “Nehalem” Family of Processors
    7. Palm webOS
    8. SUSE Studio 1.0
    9. VMware vSphere 4

    Why 9? Usually at this time of the year, it is all about top 10 lists. Oh, well, let’s just say that it has to do with the current year ending in ‘9’.

    You can read eWeek Lab’s full review of Palm webOS, written by Mr. Garcia, on the eWeek website.

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  • general,  iphone

    Time: Year End Numbers

    December 21, 2009 /

    I ran across some interesting numbers in the December 28/January 4 issue of Time magazine. In the Year in Briefing: Numbers section (page 35) there are two stats listed that I think you will find interesting. They are:

    • 200 million people joined Facebook in 2009.
    • 13,505 email messages received, on average, per person in 2009.

    Wow! Those are both some amazing statistics. And to think, we couldn’t have done it without our smartphones!

    Don’t have “time” to slow down and read the print publication? No problem, you can download the Time Mobile application for the iPhone and iPod touch. [iTunes link]

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  • blackberry,  rim,  sprint

    BlackBerry Curve 8530 Arrives on Sprint

    December 20, 2009 /

    BGR is reporting that the BlackBerry Curve 8530 has arrived at Sprint.

    “Sprint has just added a new device to its BlackBerry family — the Curve 8530. Though this is on the low-end for BlackBerry devices, that doesn’t mean it skimps out on any features. Best of all, for those of you who want a smartphone but are on a budget, the Curve 8530 is only $49.99 after two-year contract and [mail in rebate].”

    The good news is if you are looking to stick with Sprint, but don’t want to have to re-up for another two years, the good news is that you can buy the BlackBerry Curve 8530 out right for $349.99. That is much better than the $500+ you have to pay for a BlackBerry Tour or Palm Pre without a service contract extension.

    I have had my Palm Pre for six months now. Maybe it’s time for a new phone. After all, I tend to be a bit fanatical about my phones.

    You can check out the full Curve 8500 series specs over on the BlackBerry website. If you are ready to order, you should head over to the Sprint online store to get your CrackBerry addiction on.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

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