Review: BlackBerry Storm
Accelerometer
So the Storm has an accelerometer and can automatically switch between portrait and landscape views. The accelerometer on my review unit was buggy. It would rotate views even though I hadn't rotated the phone. If I did rotate the phone, it would often get stuck, and there would be a delay before it switched. This was extremely annoying. What's worse, I'd often place the phone flat on my desk and the screen would rotate sideways. This means that if the phone rang, or I received a new message, I couldn't read it because the screen would be facing the wrong way.
What is neat is that almost every application, menu or screen on the Storm can be viewed in either landscape or portrait mode. Some devices with accelerometers only let you use the device in landscape mode within certain applications or screens. The Storm lets you do everything in either mode no matter how you're holding the phone.
Apps
The Storm will have access to the BlackBerry Apps Store and a Verizon Wireless apps store when they launch. We were informed that neither store will be ready when the device goes on sale November 21. They are are a few weeks out. Still, Verizon did load a few applications on the Storm to check out. I used the Facebook application and a few others. Many more will become available over time.
Bluetooth
The Storm supports many different Bluetooth profiles, including for mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets. Pairing each kind of headset with the Storm was easy, and sound quality was excellent. I was especially pleased with how the music sounded through stereo Bluetooth headphones.
I was also able to pair it with Windows and Apple PCs easily, and perform actions such as transferring files back and forth.
Clock
The clock is always visible when the Storm's display is on. Click anywhere on the screen when it is locked, and the clock sits brightly at the top of the screen. The clock is in the same place once the screen is unlocked. Checking the time is as easy as pressing the screen.
You can also turn on a HUGE clock if you wish by opening the clock application. The clock app has a timer, stopwatch, alarm, all the usual stuff. One interesting feature is "bedside mode". RIM knows that business people will likely place their Storm on the bed-side table at night. Bedside mode shows the large clock all the time so if you get up in the middle of the night, you can always check the time simply by looking at your phone. Nice touch, RIM, nice touch.
GPS
The Storm has GPS and comes pre-loaded with Verizon's Navigator service. I didn't have a chance to test this, but I did download Google Maps and give that a try. Using Google Maps' "my location" feature showed the worst accuracy I have seen yet on a mobile device. It was way off, I tell ya, way off. Most of the time, GPS locks onto my location within feet of where I am. With the Storm, it placed the little "you are here" bubble miles away from where I was. This could be a review unit issue, though.
Visual Voicemail
The Storm also has visual voicemail. Visual voicemail is a great feature. All of your voice mails are visible in a list. You can choose which ones you want to listen to first. This is simply the way voicemail should be. I asked Verizon, and they said visual voicemail will work both in the U.S., and if you choose to roam overseas. As long as you have an active network connection, you'll have visual voicemail.
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