Booting up a BlackBerry is incredibly frustrating and slow. Usually it’s best to take the old proverb “a watched pot never boils” and just leave it in your pocket for a of couple minutes and check back. At least with OS 5 we get a status bar showing relatively how long it will be until you can get busy on your BlackBerry again.
Here I have 4 BlackBerrys, all with OS 5 loaded. Two are official OS 5 builds, and 2 are leaks. We’re going to put in the battery at the same time (or as close to the same as possible), and see which one loads first. Here are the contestants:
Verizon BlackBerry Storm2 OS 5.0.0.320 (this is what it came shipped with) TELUS Storm 9530 OS 5.0.0.328 (I think this is the latest leaked) T-Mobile Bold 9700 OS 5.0.0.330 (out of the box OS) Rogers Bold 9000 OS 5.0.0.411 (I believe this is the latest leak)
Yes, the biggest improvement in the Storm 2 is the typing technology and the ease at which you can type on the touchscreen. Typing on the Storm 2 is a more reassuring feeling versus the 9530, and it is far easier than typing on other touchscreen devices such as the iPhone. Another huge improvement is the addition of WiFi.
In our first series of posts comparing the BlackBerry Storm 2 (Storm2) and the Storm 9530, we’re going to compare the relative typing experience.
I have been using a BlackBerry Storm for some time now, and while the typing experience is incredibly slow compared to something like the Bold, it’s not a fair comparison. A more fair comparison would be with the other touchscreen devices on the market.
I have loaded the official OS 5.0.0.328 on my BlackBerry Storm 9530 and my themes are broken. There has been some buzz about this in the forums and I’ve tested the theory using an Elecite theme on my Verizon 9530.
What happens when you load a theme with the latest official OS 5 build, is very worrying. If you go into landscape mode from the homepage, and scroll, you get the dragging window effect (see the above screenshot). Also, some of the buttons in my theme, such as the “media” button, no longer work.
The Verizon BlackBerry Storm 2 is shipping tomorrow with OS 5.0.0.320 (according to the device I’m holding in my hands now) and now I’m worried the whole themes business is crushed for Storm users.
Stay tuned as we test this themes bug on the Storm 2.
I have to say, Verizon made my day/weekend with their official BlackBerry Storm 9530 OS 5.0.0.328 update. While I am not using the latest OS build on a Verizon 9530 (actually TELUS), installing it on any 9530 is very easy.
Just before the BlackBerry Storm 9530 was officially launched, Verizon rolled out the official OS 5.0.0.328 for all their Storm users.
The software is a much needed upgrade for 9530 users and it will be great to see it launched across all devices, not just the Storm 2, 9530 and 9700. RIM has officially committed to launching OS 5 other devices (likely only ones launched with 4.7+), before 2010.
