Verizon Wireless and RIM today announced the upcoming launch of the RIM BlackBerry Storm (Thunder), which will be the first BlackBerry device with a touchscreen interface. Beyond the touch innovations, however, RIM has loaded the phone with a surprisingly robust feature set, including dual-mode capabilities, so the phone can browse Verizon's fast EV-DO Rev. A networks at home, or roam on international 3G HSPA networks abroad. The phone will also feature a 3.2-megapixel camera with auto focus and a flash, as well as a host of multimedia features.
Touch it
Of course, the phone has us most curious for its touchscreen, which offers a capacitive touchscreen panel with tactile feedback, making it feel more like a real button. The phone will use multi-touch gestures, like the Apple iPhone 3G, for smooth navigation. The interface also looks unique to this BlackBerry, officially called the BlackBerry Storm 9530 in the U.S., dual-mode version. The phone will retain the standard phone, menu and escape keys of other BlackBerry devices, but will incorporate a new interface designed for touch.
Hear it
For business users, the phone will come packed with DataViz Documents to Go software to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. For multimedia fanatics, the BlackBerry Storm 9530 will include a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as 1GB of onboard memory storage and a microSDHC memory card slot that supports cards up to 16GB. The BlackBerry Storm will also ship with BlackBerry Media Sync, which lets you sync your non-DRM iTunes music files with your BlackBerry.
The smartphone will come with an enhanced Web browser offering full HTML browsing, though not supporting progressive downloads of Flash videos offered by sites such as YouTube and infoSync. Like the iPhone, the BlackBerry Storm will use an accelerometer to switch between portrait and landscape modes when you tilt the phone. The phone will also feature a 3.25-inch screen, packing 480 by 360 pixels at 184 pixels per inch (ppi). Compare the BlackBerry Storm to the iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1 here.
. . . and the kitchen sink, too
It's an overall impressive handset, and RIM hasn't left anything out. Well, Wi-Fi is missing, but RIM rarely bundles GPS and Wi-Fi on the same phone, perhaps due to battery concerns. The smartphone will use GPS for navigation, stereo Bluetooth for wireless headphones and features a large (1400 mAh) battery, which RIM claims will bestow up to 6 hours of 3G use on BlackBerry users. BlackBerry phones have always impressed us with their excellent battery life. If RIM can deliver on 6 hours of solid 3G use, that would put it at the top of its class for 3G touchscreen phones.
Of note, the upcoming BlackBerry application store was never mentioned in Verizon Wireless' release. Whether this new app store, comparable with the popular Apple App store on the iPhone, will make it to the device at launch has yet to be seen.
When and how much?
The smartphone will launch on Verizon Wireless in the U.S. very soon, though an exact release date has not been announced. The price is still to be determined, though we would be disappointed if this phone came in at more than $300 with a contract agreement. With its world phone capabilities (CDMA / EV-DO, GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, HSPA 2100 MHz), the phone is uniquely suited to the Verizon Wireless / Vodafone partnership, so we wouln't be surprised if Verizon Wireless maintains an exclusive lock on the smartphone for some time.
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