The Coming Of The Second (BlackBerry) Storm

Many accused RIM and the Storm's exclusive carrier, Verizon Wireless (partially owned by Vodafone, the exclusive carrier in Europe), of jumping the gun and launching a subpar product before it was ready for prime time. Some upgrades to the device's operating system, both official and leaked, have improved its usability but, for many, it never quite reached its potential.

Over the summer, evidence started to emerge on the Internet of the next-generation device, logically labeled Storm 2, and slowly rumors again began to emerge regarding how the new version would compare. For the past few months, leaked videos started to appear, showing actual preproduction units and describing its specifications and functionality. In addition, estimated shipping dates also started making their way into public forums.

All the while, RIM stood on the sidelines quietly and confirmed very little. That has now changed, as Vodafone officially launched the smartphone, called Storm2 and, with very little fanfare, RIM has updated its Web site with full specs.

As expected, the Storm2 has much in common with its predecessor. Physically, it looks very similar (the Storm2 is slightly larger), and its functionality hasn't changed much either. A review of one of the first official prereleased units on fan Web site Crackberry.com likens it more to a 2010 model of a car that was first released in 2009; new and improved, but nothing earth-shattering under the hood. Still, as expected, first impressions agree that the Storm2 is what the first version should have been.

The Storm2 doubles the original's memory size in every area. It has 256 MB of flash memory, 2 GB of onboard media memory, and comes with a 16-GB micro SD card for additional storage. The touch screen, which was expected to make the initial Storm the first realistic iPhone competitor, is where the Storm2 mostly veers from the previous version.

The unique SurePress technology is still in place, which allows the screen to actually be depressed, but its implementation has changed. While the first generation Storm used a single button below the center of the screen, the Storm2 has four separate switches, one in each quadrant, for a more even feel during usage. The addition of these multiple buttons also makes for much faster typing on the Storm2, since the OS no longer has to wait for a single button to release before being able to detect a second press. The new version also has the ability to lock the screen in place when it is not on, preventing it from being pressed down at all.

The Storm2 is also the first BlackBerry to be released using version 5 of the operating system. While this brings with it some new features and improvement, the original Storm as it is expected to get an upgrade to the same functionality soon. There are many more developments on the Storm2 that we plan to go into more depth on with an upcoming review, but the big news now is that it's finally been released and its U.S. launch is imminent. Although nothing official has been announced, there is mounting evidence to support Verizon will begin selling the device on Oct. 21. There's no telling yet if it will join the ranks of the hottest smartphones of the season but, one thing's for sure, it looks like RIM has been listening to its customers' feedback this time around.

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