I did not take much notice when I heard the rumble in my pocket. The thought occurred to me that it was just a little indigestion from the two chili dogs that I scarfed down on the way back from the cell phone store. When the second (and somewhat louder) rumble occurred I began to get concerned. Was this the big one? Will I be doing a Fred Sanford and start telling my dear departed that I would be joining her at any moment? With a bit of trepidation I looked down at my chest when suddenly a blue light flashed before my eyes and made all four of the hairs on the top of my head stand erect. My mind was immediately put at ease. It was just my brand spanking new - eat your heart out James Bond - Blackberry Storm!
Now I admit to being somewhat of a techno geek. (I am sure that combination of words will cause the spell check to hiccup!) However even I am amazed at the smart phone that is literally taking the world by storm. In the few weeks that I have owned it I have become absolutely addicted to its many wonderous features. I wanted a phone, but instead I got a lifestyle!
This device has a 3.2 Megapixel camera in it. The pictures it takes are unbelievable. It has quad band transmitters allowing it to work in 230 countries. (If I ever win that pesky lotto I am going to go to all 230 and verify that, but in the meantime I will just have to take their word on that functionality!) It is loaded with features and even allows me the capability of editing word documents and spreadsheets on the fly! Yes I can watch television on it, get on YouTube or Flickr, and it does indeed have an absolutely incredible web interface. The interface to Rhapsody is highly intuitive and easy to use, and though I will not be downloading much bee bop, I am pleased to report that Rhapsody has a very significant selection of old timer music as well!
The battery is removable (unlike that Apple thingamabob) and it has stereo Bluetooth (which I love when sitting helplessly stranded in an airplane waiting for the snow to melt!)
The tactile feedback of the touch screen is amazing. It is really neat to be able to feel like I am typing on a keyboard instead of that other carrier's fruity poke and hope screen. I can even do my broadband connection wirelessly from my laptop to my Storm (via bluetooth) to the world wide web. It is so very nice to not have to lug around yet another silly cable just to do broadband.
RIM has always been the best at EMail so I will not even bother expressing my pleasure with that functionality except to say that it is pretty funny when my laptop and phone are side by side and I get my emails on the phone sometimes minutes before I get them on my laptop!
For those folks that like the more technical specifications on products, I would offer the following as taken from the Verizon Wireless website. The device comes with a gigabyte of internal memory and with an eight gigabyte removable MicroSD card installed. The TFT display is 480 x 360 and supports 65k color. It has voice activated dialing, voice commands, and voice notes. The weight is 5.47 ounces. It has 330 minutes of talk time and 360 hours of standby time. The screen size is 3.25 inches. In addition to supporting CDMA, the device supports GPRS/UMTS as well as Quad GSM in the following frequencies. 850/900/1800/1900. The 3.2 Megapixel camera does include a flash. It is hearing aid compatible and does include adjustable font size for people like me! Though I could go on and on, it is obvious that this outstanding device incldues virtually anything that one could want on a smart phone!
The only downside that I can see has been the effect on my staff. They had gotten into this sneaky little habit of sending me emails for direction or clarification minutes after I would go into a meeting. This allowed them an hour or more of free time because I would not be able to respond until after the meeting was over. That priviledge has now ended for them. I can receive my emails, make edits to any attachments, and respond to my staff in minutes instead of hours. This means that their productivity has increased dramatically. I suspect that they are secretly plotting to kidnap my Storm and hold it for ransom. Much to their chagrin, even my lunch hour is now filled with productive work instead of a second martini.
As a society, we have witnessed many changes in 2008. Not all of them were for the good. But the Blackberry Storm is one change that has quite literally modified the way I work as well as the way I play. It has been a very positive modification and I would highly reccomend that you give this tool a try.