PRODUCT REVIEW
Touchy Feely BlackBerry Storm a Worthy iPhone Rival

I've been testing an evaluation unit for the better part of a week and can say that the sleek new Storm is the most compelling rival yet, incorporating many of the iPhone's revolutionary features but adding a distinctly BlackBerry style and some new tricks of its own.

Corporate types waiting for a major upgrade to the chunky and somewhat stodgy BlackBerry are going to love the Storm's brilliant display and the fact that it works on Verizon's superfast 3G (for third-generation) data network.

Cost is US$199 after a $50 rebate on a 2-year contract.

Responsive Touchscreen

It also comes with built-in capabilities to read, create and edit Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents -- the three applications most used by professionals.

But the single most unusual feature of the Storm is its touchscreen. To be sure, that screen works a lot like the iPhone. You can swipe your fingers horizontally to change pages or images, vertically to scroll up and down. Double tap the screen and an image gets bigger.

But unlike the iPhone, the BlackBerry Storm touch screen uses a technology called "SurePress" that makes typing on its virtual, on-screen keyboard image much like typing on a physical keyboard. You put your finger on the letter or number and actually press down on the screen to make the character. There is a distinct touchback sensation providing positive confirmation that you've clicked the character.

I found the Storm's clickable feature awkward and cumbersome. I am convinced it's because I am so used to the iPhone touchscreen, which registers the character as soon as your finger touches it.

With the Storm, the keyboard character is briefly highlighted in blue when your finger touches it, but until you actually depress it, nothing happens.

I showed the Storm to several regular BlackBerry users. They found no such disorientation. It seemed natural to them, and all "Oohed" and "Aahed" over the Storm's click-ability.

Quirky QWERTY

The keys on the Storm are spaced wide enough to avoid most fat-finger mistakes when held horizontally and displayed in traditional QWERTY layout. In some applications, though, I found the typing space above the keyboard was pretty scrunched up.

When you hold the Storm vertically, instead of the QWERTY layout, the on-screen keyboard switches to the multi-tap layout, where two characters are shared with each key.

The Storm also bests the iPhone in the quality of the built-in camera. It captures stills at 3.2 megapixels and comes with a flash, variable zoom and built-in uploading links to Facebook and the Flickr image-sharing site. It also does video.

The Storm has Visual Voice Mail, a feature pioneered by the iPhone, that lets you scroll through messages, playing back only the ones you want. And it has a full HTML Web browser that does file downloading, streaming audio and video and the like.

To get new programs, the Storm has the Application Center, much like the iPhone's App Store.

WiFi a No-Go

Inexplicably, the Storm lacks WiFi connectivity, something even much cheaper smartphones routinely incorporate in deference to the pervasiveness of home, office and hotspot WiFi networks.

It can download music and video over the 3G network, but in places out of 3G coverage, being able to get fast WiFi connectivity would certainly be nice.

The Storm also comes with built-in GPS (global positioning system), a replaceable battery and the BlackBerry's impeccable e-mail and messaging capabilities. More details can be found at www.blackberry.com/blackberrystorm.

My bottom line assessment: If I didn't have the iPhone, this would be my choice for a smartphone. But it's not impressive enough to make me switch.