This is literally hot off the presses. I am a long time blackberry user and I’ve been pondering the shift to the new Google Phone mostly because less than 3G is like Chocolate chip cookies without the chips. My BB crawls and it’s tiresome. Nothing like looking remotely for some new graphic ideas for a web design project and sitting their watching the “connecting” messages sit their like a smiling Buddha. I don’t have that kind i of patience. The BlackBerry Storm is the first touch screen BlackBerry device and one of the first I have ever heard of that has a display with real feedback.
The press release states that the screen actually depresses slightly when pressed and the user feels this with a gentle “click” when released. This type of positive touch screen should give the end user a better touch experience and I can’t wait to try it out. The Storm also adds support for multi-touch, taps, slides and other gestures. Like the iPhone, the Storm has an integrated accelerometer so you can switch from portrait to landscape with either the SureType (portrait) or full QWERTY (landscape) keyboard appearing.
Other specs for the BlackBerry Storm include support for Verizon’s 3G network, 3.2 megapixel camera, integrated GPS receiver, integrated Documents To Go software for full Office document functionality, 1GB of onboard memory with a microSD slot, 3.5mm headset jack, Bluetooth radio with A2DP support, 480×360 display, and 1400 mAh removable rechargeable battery. It does not have a WiFI radio, but with Verizon’s extensive 3G network you should be covered quite well for wireless data access.