The new BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.148 has made some long awaited improvements. RIM and Verizon Wireless have done a good job of meeting many consumer demands. Although the update has been leaked for some time, it is now official and fully tested. You will now find your BlackBerry to be faster, more responsive and the camera has a neat update.
The new selection tool that we found in OS 4.7.0.132 is still around and makes the copy and paste system much easier. When selecting text, you get a little box that can be slid either way to adjust your selection. Before this update, it was very difficult to select text because it was hidden beneath your fingers. Now you can select text accurately.
One of the major updates to the BlackBerry Storm includes an improved camera interface. When you take a picture with the camera, you’ll see a preview rather than a white screen. This is helpful because you’ll know immediately whether to take another, or save the file.
Another great update to the BlackBerry Storm comes with a slightly better web browsing experience. The latest Storm update makes for a more stable BlackBerry Browser experience. The latest browser update also comes with a little green “Go” button, which should help those new to the mobile browsing experience. Other than that, expect pages to look a little better, with pictures being clearer and the browser a little faster to load.
Before the most recent update, users had to download applications such as TalkLock, to ensure that they wouldn’t press the mute, end or speakerphone button during the call. This has been fixed in the most recent update along with a few other simple adjustments to make the phone experience more enjoyable. The signal strength indicators are more accurate and calls sound a little clearer.
Overall, this is a really great update to the BlackBerry Storm and I have a new-found love for the device.
Download the Verizon BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.148 from BlackBerry.com.
See pictures of the complete changelog for the latest BlackBerry Storm update.
How has the problem with inadvertently pressing the mute, end or speakerphone button during the call been fixed? The screen still doesn’t lock during a call. Do we still need TalkLock or is there a setting on the phone I’m missing? Thanks.
@Matt – I may have been a little too enthusiastic about the word choice in the article. The issue has been worked on but that’s not to say it will never happen. The change log reports:
“Enhancements to ensure that features such as speakerphone, mute, etc. are not inadvertently accessed when holding the phone up to the ear.”
Although I haven’t had the issue since upgrading, it’s been “enhanced,” not fixed.
This update is incredible. The best part is the accuracy of the keyboard when typing. The update provides a new full qwerty keyboard in portrait mode. The keys on screen are amazingly small and my expectation was that it would be even more prone to mistakes. Not the case at all. I have yet to make a mistake typing fast on the new keyboard…and that is in portrait qwerty mode.
In landscape mode, the keys are obviously the same size, but accuracy has been dramatically improved there…no more fat finger mistakes.
This is now a quality blackberry as opposed to what I used to think was a real miss by RIM.
You can lock the phone when on a call. I was shown that there is a home menu (looks like a house icon in the middle of the screen on the bottom) you can press that right when you answer your call and it brings you to the home menu and I haven’t had an issue yet.
@Steve, I totally agree. Although I have had the release for awhile, it has prevented me from a move back to at&t and iPhone. I was one of the few happy to get rid of the iphone now that feeling has validity!
@angela Thank you for that tip. I would have never thought to use that as a way of “locking” the phone during a call.
Just starting downloading now I’ve been waiting for this. I was even thinking about switching to the iphone soon especially if they were to release the storm 2 before this update. Now all they need is a ton more applications and I will be a lot more happy
this new update is horrible I would just like to comment Ive been on customer service for 20min so far. Problems are I cant make or receive calls I don’t recommend updating your phone until all the bugs get fixed.
@andre you may have more problems than just the update.
1. So far no random 5:30-6pm random resets.
2. New post-shot camera interface very nice.
3. Only problem I had was manually restoring my settings. Installer failed to do it automatically on 2 different phones on 2 different computers (didnt try OTA update)
4. QWERTY in portrait is a winner.
5. New weird overlay over text entry boxes.
6. Might just be me, but browsing the net in BB browser and Bolt seems a lot faster. But that might just be from updating the service books and routing after the update.
@angela thank you for the tip, I too would never have clicked dat little house.
The update is amazing, however, whenever music advances to the next song it starts off on mute and you have to hit the volume buttom to bring the volume back up to the previous level. Anyone else having a similar problem or discover a fix?
….this update just brought me a little bit closer to God!
I love the new upgrades 2 the storm. I really like the fact that if you lock the phone the screen will not display unless you hit one of the four keys at the bottom. saves on the battery life
@Anthony I am having the same problem, any help is appreciated
When I try to download the upgrade, it fails and gives me the message, “Upgrade request failed. Try again later or upgrade using BlackBerry Desktop Manager on your computer”. What gives?
Not sure what is wrong in my case and my neice. We updated this week and both have the same issues. Phone responds very slow to everything. When I get an e-mail message, if flashes crazy inconsistent text across two full lines at the top of the window, then the message appears. My battery life has been draining in about 10 hours compared to 18 hours before the update. Never had these issues before. On her phone there is now an little clock in the middle of the window that runs when she selects almost anything…….Reminds me of the Windows Hour Glass….watch this while you wait!
So the update on the storm was great at first, but i started to noticed that my phone was acting slower then before. My phones freezes more then anything, from getting a call to text message. It never did that before until I did this update. My friend is having the same problems with her phone.
Did we miss something that is causing our phones to act really slow?
I have 4 suggestions for anyone who may be having problems with their initial down load. 1st, reset your storm by taking the battery out. Second, make sure you have available space. You may even need to get rid of all your apps, even if the space is available (that worked for me). Third, try downloading the upgrade in the morning and in a location where your tower strength is the strongest. Finally, make sure that when you begin your down-loading the phone is plugged in because the process really drains the battery. If you have already downloaded the program just redue it. I (had) the same problems with the freezes untill a phone geek (verizon employee) helped me out. No promises…..let me know what happens
@Johnny oh ok thanks ill give it a try .. Do u think I if downgrade the updates and reinstall the new update would work ..
This update crashed my Storm. Once installed the screen went dark and the LED indicator started flashing. I tried hooking it up to the computer but there was no connectivity. I now have a new phone coming through the mail, but have lost most of my contacts. Back up your phones before you install the update!!!
@ Melissa, If im correct I think it will allow you to reinstall the same program. It may tell you that u already have the program but continue with the process.
@ Scott, dont’t give up on the phone because once you get your new (used) phone it should already have the updated program. If it does not, try some of my earlier suggestions; no promises. The only thing I hate about getting a new phone from verizon is that it will be a referbished one. Whats that all about. Oh yea, before you send your phone back go to a Verizon dealer so that they can transfer your contacts over to the other phone. Good luck bro.
i cant even download it, it says that i dont have enough memory. ill try deleting some things and ill get back to you
New update made everything faster. Much better camera function. So far, the only issue I’ve found is when a picture stored on the card or device is set as background, it does not size to the screen as before and there is no “edit” function.
I had figured out a work around to get predictive (sure type) in multi-tap portrait mode; then I upgraded and can’t do it anymore. Does anyone know how to get this feature back? I think originally it was a bug but it works great for me.
On 4.7.0.148 does anyone have an issue of getting double or triple letters with just 1 push of the letter? This is the only thing that is really annoying, it is making typing fast impossible.
I have been trying all day to free up enough memory for the upgrade. Every time I delete a program and clear th ebattery there is either no improvment or even worse. Very frutrating.
Ever since I downloaded the upgrade 4.7.0.148 on my Storm, email, and text messages will not open in landscape. It is very frustrating. Other than that everything else is good.
ok! Took the battery out for 20 minutes… now it is working fine for now.
I got the update and my phone crashed… It sucks! The letters on the keyboard are crooked and everything runs slower, not to mention my battery life is about 4 hours (not using it). I went to the verizon store and the gave me a new battery, did nothing. ANy suggestions?
That surprises me. Once I deleted a few apps (Forbes was the worse) (I never did find out a location that informed me of the memory usage for each app) I did the update and gained some 30mb’s of memory. Additionally, the typing has improved a 1000%. Still have not figured the “balloon” part for going back over text yet. Battery life did not change either way. I would delete all nonessential apps and add them back one at a time and see if you can locate the culprit. Had to do that once myself and one of the games was running in the background. Once I deleted it I was fine. The BB system makes it very hard to do any diagnosis.
I too have a huge battery drain after the update. I could get 24 hours or more before the update, now it is dead in 8 hours. I don’t use VZW Nav, so that can’t be it. Wonder what is wrong?
Another glitch. When recording video, zoom doesn’t work.
Criag, try clearing your browser cache, cookies, etc. Maybe???
I downloaded the update and the started the upgrade process, that was at 10:00 am it is now 6:30 pm and I cannot access anything on the phone the screen is just black, I called Verizon tech support and was told the the upgrade fried my phone and I would have to have it replaced. I would like to know why RIM would create a update that has the possibility of making your phone useless, it seems to me that the upgrade should have been tested for any defects before they released it. In my opinion the upgrade is really a downgrade. A phone that does nothing is not an upgrade
the only problem i have with the update is everytime i answer or make a phone call it answers it staright to headset with none attached or bluetooth connection off and i have to enable handset to hear anything really frustrating any suggestions
On mine it says that i dont have enough memory and i need to delete some personal info. and wen i do it still doesnt work i deleted 3 songs and all my videos and soe of my pictures.
Jessica:
You are working with very low memory users and probably on your media card anyway. You need to delete apps that you installed after you purchased the Storm. sync it back to your desktop, delete all apps added, power off, remove battery, wait a few minutes, insert battery and once booted up, check your memry again to make sure you are there. You should be, so immedately do the upgrade. Once the upgrade is finished you can back to the desktop and resync most of what you deleted and if not go get them again.
Does anyone have the web address of the introductory email that the staff sends to your storm with all the free applications, such as Google Maps, Trapster, Slacker, etc…? I had to get a new storm and lost everything including contacts. FML
Thanks
I had the problem with the battery and just took it in and they replaced the phone, so far so good except I lost all my apps and luckily i backed up some of my contacts on my cpu. Good luck
I just updated my BBerry Storm. Wow. Awesome. And it was so easy. I heard a few stories on the web of difficulties. But the people I spoke with over the last few days, incuding an older bartender, assured me it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was easy. When I got the notice for downloading on my screen, I panicked. Then I ignored it. Later, I plugged the unit into its docking charger, took a deep breath, pressed okay a few times, then took a nap. When I awoke an hour later, the update was complete and working very fine. Sure, I had to re-acknowledge permissions and settings on a few apps. Big deal. People are starving and being blown up in other parts of the world. I’ll take a few app-resets, thank you. And my storm really does respond MUCH faster, cleaner, and it does a much better job of understanding what I am trying to type with my big thumbs.
So, for a non-techie like me, I am quite happy. Thanks BBerry Storm Team! You made my day.
I am trying to update to the new software, but it keeps telling me “Not enought available memory to complete upgrade. Delete 5.5MB of personal data and then resume upgrade.”
When I look at my memory it seems I still have 8 gigs of free space, I have like 5 pics and no songs – I’m not sure whats the issue.. ANY IDEAS??
You have three types of memory: Application, Device and Media Card. The memory that they are talking about is application memory. Go to options, memory and you will see application memory. That is the one that you need to get to 5.5. Therefore, the only way to get it up to size is delete applications. The only problem is that I have never found out a source that will tell me which application uses how much memory. So you do a little russian roulette to determine which one or more than one that will do it for you. Remember to power off and remove battery for a few minutes before powering back on to really erase the application and reset the Storm.
I am having major issues with the newest update. It keeps telling me I have to free up space. So far I have deleted every email, every text, every photo, and have done 5 or 6 battery pulls, and its still not enough.
has anyone had a problem viewing the screen in the daylight? I can never see anything on the phone when I am outside. Any help would be appreciated.
Bill, check your setting in Options -> Screen/Keyboard
Rob, backup your contacts/Apps/Settings and do a “Wipe Handheld” in Options -> Security Options -> General Settings, press Menu key and select Wipe Handheld.
I noticed with the update everything was responding very slowly. I saw the hourglass (clock) alot. Even when I went to unlock the phone it would pause for a bit before I could do anything. Once I removed the battery and rebooted the phone, everything worked fine and the lag was no longer there. My only gripe is the keyboard is portrait mode is now very clumsy and makes alot of mistake. The full key board is cool, but still I prefer they keyboard of the landscape mode over that. Coincidentally, typing in landscape mode had improved dramatically, less mistakes. I wish RIM would incorporate the T9 feature on these phones. Autotext just doesnt work well.
this update is junk. it was good for about 3 days. since then my screen becomes unresponsive about 15 times a day. i cant click on anything and it will do this during the middle of a txt. all the sudden i can no longer type. so i have to remove the battery and start all over. this update was a pre-mature release, its garbage and i called this morning and went back to my curve! thanks for this update that made my life just a little bit worse!
does anyone know how to get the facebook app to act like the other blackberry facebook apps where the icons are on top of the screen and the updates are beneath them? My home page just says no messages and when i click on updates, the icons go away and i cant easily switch between them. thanks.
the new os .148 sucks, still is slow, the olny good part is the camera.
the os still crash on media player, on websites,
well after reading all of these horror stories……….it just doesn’t make sense to me that all of these problems are going down……i had my storm from the release date……never switched os’s until the official update……..it worked awesome….then i switched to BBCv7 which is v4.7.0.151/181 and i have transitions, the internet is faster, limited spinning clocks and it’s just an all around better os……..come over to BlackberryOS.com and check it out……tons of the questions that you guys/girls have can be answered for you
screen is not responding, had to pull the battery out
The storm is a nightmare! With the 1st one I endured lost of contact list 3 times, constant freeze ups that required the battery to be pulled, not being able to answer the phone when it rang due to touch pad freeze or the phones inability to ring. Upgraded OS which not only crashed my phone but crashed my computer as well. Finally verizon replaced it with a new one and it well for about 2- days and is now headed down the same road as the other….THIS PHONE IS A LEMON….
How did I miss this update? transferred to a Mac and been waiting for the Manager to come out and work with my phone. Finally it came out and much to my surprise there was a software update! Wow I was about ready to throw my storm out the window! SO many issues with it and this update has been sweet. Corrects a lot of the things I had issues with. Called my Blackberry buddies to make sure they had it. And like me lots didn’t
I think I am falling in love with this phone( FINALLY
)