Telus BlackBerry Storm: Hands On Impressions

Posted
by
Kyle McInnes
on November 27, 2008, at 1:05 AM
in Editorials and Spotlight
. Tags: , , , , , , , .
Comments: 22 responses
22 Comments

You’re probably wondering why I’m spending so much time talking about cameras and music videos, when all you want to know about is how well the touchscreen works. Don’t worry, it’s not the disaster other blogs have made it out to be — quite the opposite, in fact. Apart from the slight display delay I mention previously (that should be fixed before launch), the whole process is far more intuitive than you’d expect from RIM. You’ve probably already seen how easy copy and paste is on the Storm, but there a bunch of other nice touches, like highlighting a name so search all emails from that person, quick-swiping through emails and double-tapping the screen to zoom in.

Texting will take some time to get used to, of course, but you’ll get it. Honestly, the largest for me was reminding myself that the screen clickable. Here’s a protip that will ease you into the touchscreen experience: don’t neglect the portrait mode SureType setting. The keys are extremely large, you can see more of the screen, and the predictive text is there to lend a guiding hand. Also, don’t be afraid to use a digit other than your thumb. Many Telus employees were using their pinkies or index fingers to quickly navigate the Storm without blocking the screen too much. Is it too late to coin the term BlackBerry Pinkie?

Telus was mum on the price and the release date for the BlackBerry Storm, even though both seem to be finalized. However, we are able to form educated guesses based upon a few things. None of the Telus people seemed to think our previously reported date of December 8th was on the money and the Storm Rocks tour doesn’t end until December 11th, leading me to believe that the Storm will launch after then, but still in time for Christmas. Also, despite what The Boy Genius thinks, I would be surprised to see Telus sell the Storm for more than $199 on a three year contract (after rebate). This is a consumer device that needs to be priced competitively against the iPhone.

Post a comment and let me know if there are any questions you have. I’ll do my best to answer them.

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  • Kyle

    After reading as much as I can review wise (mostly based on the south of the border version) on the Storm, a Telus take is greatly appreciated.

    Eagerly awaiting every bit of performance info you can give. I’ll admit my biggest concerns from what I’ve read so far have to do with the screen’s “wiggle ability”, the phone’s responsiveness overall and OS bugs/inconveniences.

  • Kyle

    After reading as much as I can review wise (mostly based on the south of the border version) on the Storm, a Telus take is greatly appreciated.

    Eagerly awaiting every bit of performance info you can give. I’ll admit my biggest concerns from what I’ve read so far have to do with the screen’s “wiggle ability”, the phone’s responsiveness overall and OS bugs/inconveniences.

  • http://blackberryunderground.com/ Andrew

    Why is Rim having Such trouble getting their stuff out the door in ready form, they are an Amazing Company with the best SmartPhone product around, solid, performance, good fell and comfort and reliable…until recently when it started its consumer push, we all want the next best thing, and we all want to be early adopters , but I think they need to pull back and come at this differently.

    Rim I love YA

    Andrew
    http://www.blackberryunderground.com
    A truly Social Network for Blackberry Users and Abusers

  • http://blackberryunderground.com Andrew

    Why is Rim having Such trouble getting their stuff out the door in ready form, they are an Amazing Company with the best SmartPhone product around, solid, performance, good fell and comfort and reliable…until recently when it started its consumer push, we all want the next best thing, and we all want to be early adopters , but I think they need to pull back and come at this differently.

    Rim I love YA

    Andrew
    http://www.blackberryunderground.com
    A truly Social Network for Blackberry Users and Abusers

  • Marvin

    Hey there, I’m wondering if you can answer this question about the Storm. All BB’s have a magnet approx. 10mm from the bottom that put the device into sleep mode when placed in their leather case. do you know how this function works with the new BB Storm?
    thanks

  • Marvin

    Hey there, I’m wondering if you can answer this question about the Storm. All BB’s have a magnet approx. 10mm from the bottom that put the device into sleep mode when placed in their leather case. do you know how this function works with the new BB Storm?
    thanks

  • Pete

    I’ve had several Google ads from Telus on web pages I’ve visited that showed the Storm and they all said “from $299.99″ I’m hoping you’re correct, though as I’m not on contract, the off-contract price will likely not change anyway.

  • Pete

    I’ve had several Google ads from Telus on web pages I’ve visited that showed the Storm and they all said “from $299.99″ I’m hoping you’re correct, though as I’m not on contract, the off-contract price will likely not change anyway.

  • Mike

    I love Blackberry! So, I am deaf and still have Blackberry Pearl. I’m wonder to know if either one of Bold or Storm have provide for the deaf and hard of hearing access for communication like, Relay, TTY, text message,and Blackberry messenger, or much more. I know iPhone has a problem with keyboard.
    Mike

  • Mike

    I love Blackberry! So, I am deaf and still have Blackberry Pearl. I’m wonder to know if either one of Bold or Storm have provide for the deaf and hard of hearing access for communication like, Relay, TTY, text message,and Blackberry messenger, or much more. I know iPhone has a problem with keyboard.
    Mike

  • matt

    I was just in Telus and they told me Dec. 6th release date, but the shipment will not arrive until Monday the 8th. They took my name down and put one on hold. This better be for real this time!

  • matt

    I was just in Telus and they told me Dec. 6th release date, but the shipment will not arrive until Monday the 8th. They took my name down and put one on hold. This better be for real this time!

  • ryan

    Does it come with a business card in the box to stick under the battery so the screen clicks properly?

  • ryan

    Does it come with a business card in the box to stick under the battery so the screen clicks properly?

  • Larry

    Thanks for the information on the performance of the Storm.

    I know you talked to them first hand but I seriously doubt the delay is all OS related. If that were the only problem thy would be more forthcoming about pricing. I think this has just as much to do with establishing the highest price point possible. If you look at the BB 8830 World Edition they have left the current price at $299.00 on a 3YT. If the Storm is everything they say it is the 8830 price should have been reduced by this point.

  • Larry

    Thanks for the information on the performance of the Storm.

    I know you talked to them first hand but I seriously doubt the delay is all OS related. If that were the only problem thy would be more forthcoming about pricing. I think this has just as much to do with establishing the highest price point possible. If you look at the BB 8830 World Edition they have left the current price at $299.00 on a 3YT. If the Storm is everything they say it is the 8830 price should have been reduced by this point.

  • Larry

    Thanks for the information on the performance of the Storm.

    I know you talked to them first hand but I seriously doubt the delay is all OS related. If that were the only problem thy would be more forthcoming about pricing. I think this has just as much to do with establishing the highest price point possible. If you look at the BB 8830 World Edition they have left the current price at $299.00 on a 3YT. If the Storm is everything they say it is the 8830 price should have been reduced by this point.

  • TUNA

    In speaking to the fact that people both here and south of the boarder had issues with the press, or “reviewable” units they got, those were indeed also pre-launch OS builds. You can’t judge this device on its merits as it performs with OS builds from months ago. I think its safe to say that the delay in the accelerometer and such will have been cleaned up by the new OS releases come launch date. And now that anything 4.5 and newer can accept OTA (over the air) updates on the network, its not a concern anyway.

    The tentative date is still looking to be Dec 8th, with a tentative price of $299.99 on a 3 yr and $699.99 no contract.

    My guess would be that RIM and TELUS announce an official date during the launch party on Dec 2nd at The Guvernment nightclub in Toronto.

    It does seem a little strange to wait so long for a date on this thing but I guess all good things, right?

  • TUNA

    In speaking to the fact that people both here and south of the boarder had issues with the press, or “reviewable” units they got, those were indeed also pre-launch OS builds. You can’t judge this device on its merits as it performs with OS builds from months ago. I think its safe to say that the delay in the accelerometer and such will have been cleaned up by the new OS releases come launch date. And now that anything 4.5 and newer can accept OTA (over the air) updates on the network, its not a concern anyway.

    The tentative date is still looking to be Dec 8th, with a tentative price of $299.99 on a 3 yr and $699.99 no contract.

    My guess would be that RIM and TELUS announce an official date during the launch party on Dec 2nd at The Guvernment nightclub in Toronto.

    It does seem a little strange to wait so long for a date on this thing but I guess all good things, right?

  • Mark

    If you had the device for a while you would realize that, after sucessive updates from Telus/Blackberry, this device still remains buggy. If it worked proprly I would love it, that is why I paid the bucks in teh first place. If it were free, I would not care, but the fact that I pay Telus about $175 a month after you factor in high use, LD, unlimited texting, etc. and paid upfront a couple hundred dollars AND, that is still locked in for 3 years, it is a rip off piece of crap. Telus knows it. I will go through my 3rd then will have Telus cancel my contract and I will get a decent smart phone that works. Buyer beware.

  • Mark

    If you had the device for a while you would realize that, after sucessive updates from Telus/Blackberry, this device still remains buggy. If it worked proprly I would love it, that is why I paid the bucks in teh first place. If it were free, I would not care, but the fact that I pay Telus about $175 a month after you factor in high use, LD, unlimited texting, etc. and paid upfront a couple hundred dollars AND, that is still locked in for 3 years, it is a rip off piece of crap. Telus knows it. I will go through my 3rd then will have Telus cancel my contract and I will get a decent smart phone that works. Buyer beware.

  • Mark

    If you had the device for a while you would realize that, after sucessive updates from Telus/Blackberry, this device still remains buggy. If it worked proprly I would love it, that is why I paid the bucks in teh first place. If it were free, I would not care, but the fact that I pay Telus about $175 a month after you factor in high use, LD, unlimited texting, etc. and paid upfront a couple hundred dollars AND, that is still locked in for 3 years, it is a rip off piece of crap. Telus knows it. I will go through my 3rd then will have Telus cancel my contract and I will get a decent smart phone that works. Buyer beware.