Review: BlackBerry Storm
As with all other BlackBerries, the Storm is a messaging powerhouse. The messaging center is the best yet from RIM, and it is tightly entwined with the calling and contacts applications. These three together create a strong triad of connectivity and communications options.
The Storm works with POP3, IMAP, Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes and pretty much any other email system and/or software you can think of.
The main inbox holds every email, SMS, or MMS sent to the phone in one gigantic list. This can be a boon or a bane, depending on your style. If you like everything in one spot, it is quick and easy to access everything. If you have multiple email accounts tied to the Storm, and prefer to see the emails sorted into their respective in-boxes, this view may not be for you. Luckily, you can sort out each inbox so they are in fact separate and you don't confuse which email account you are in. (The Storm supports up to 10 email accounts.)
Probably the most powerful aspect of the messaging app is the search function. Because BlackBerries keep messages stored for 30 days (unless you delete them more often), searching your inbox might be a painful prospect for that one email or SMS you know contains vital information. With the search function, you can find practically anything in your inbox as long as it is still stored on the device.
When viewing emails, the BlackBerry software recognizes phone numbers and email addresses. When you scroll down a page, they are auto-highlighted, allowing you to email people or call them without having to type anything. Simply scroll over the name or email to highlight it, press the screen, and bingo. Hitting the BB key opens up the options list for the emails or numbers found in your inbox.
My favorite new feature is how the Storm sorts through emails. Let's say you're in the Storm's inbox. Swiping sideways across the email address of a message in your inbox will sort all emails by that name. Same goes for subject lines. Want to see all the emails from a certain thread? Swipe the subject line and all the emails with the same subject line will appear in a list. Nice!
While viewing a message, swiping to the left or to the right will let you jump to the next or previous message without having to go to the inbox first.
There are some software buttons running along the bottom of the screen for replying, forwarding, or deleting the current message.
SMS messages are threaded into a single conversation (similar to a Treo or iPhone) as long as you and the contact continue to reply to messages already sent and not type a brand new message.
New messages of any sort are easy to initiate by simply typing in the contact's name. If you begin typing a contact's name in the address field, it will auto sort your contacts in that field and let you select from that list. Same goes for SMS or MMS messages.
Speaking of files, the BlackBerry inbox lets you view most attachments, including images and Microsoft Word documents.
The Storm is also preloaded with BlackBerry Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo and Windows Live instant messaging programs. Any way you want to get your IM on, the Storm lets you do it.
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