Macquarie Mobile Product Launch: Blackberry Storm - $699 ex GST
 With it sleek aesthetics you will find the BlackBerry Storm somewhere between
the BlackBerry Bold and the Apple iPhone. It sports a large and colourful screen
and great definition. This is undoubtedly the latest and greatest in touch
screen technology.
The 3.25-inch touchscreen is sharp and colourful and the
audio is decent. The same, of course, can be said for music playback (though we
do recommend forking out for an upgrade to include the headphones that come bundled with
the phone). The Storm features a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top-right side of
the phone, as all self-respecting multimedia mobiles should.
The BlackBerry
Storm uses the same touchscreen technology and has the same accuracy as the
iPhone but has a little extra up its sleeve.
Research in motion (RIM) has
developed a technology called SurePress, this essentially means that instead of
accidently pressing buttons and / or activating programs that you do not wish
to, the Storm will highlight the button on touch and needs to be depressed
further to activate the function, this makes typing on the device more like using a
conventional BlackBerry or other smartphone keyboard. While this may seem like
extra effort it actually acts as a second chance so rather than regularly
opening and closing programs by mistake, or mistyping letters in an email, you
have that split second to realise you've hit the wrong key before pressing on
the screen. RIM has the largest “mobile smartphone device” research and
development team in the world so you would expect them to be ahead of the rest
and this is just another example of a very clever technology from the supplier
of BlackBerry.
To complement the touchscreen input, the Storm also has a familiar quartet of
mechanical keys below the screen, the same calling keys and BlackBerry
context-sensitive menu button we've seen on all recent release BlackBerry
handsets.
The device features HSDPA network support and browses the web through the same
BlackBerry browser we find in the Bold, optimised for touchscreen input, of
course. The Storm also includes Bluetooth for pairing to hands-free headsets.
"Watching video on the Storm is great. Unlike the iPhone,
, supporting MPEG4, H.264, WMV and the obligatory 3GP
mobile phone video format. Formats the phone doesn't recognise are converted
during transfer via the BlackBerry Desktop Manager. (Those BlackBerry boys and
girls being clever again)"
With most smartphones, battery life is a concern, especially ones with large,
high res displays and a range of connectivity options. The Storm is not immune
from sucking through the juice and it is possible to run the battery down after
about 10 hours of very heavy use, however, it manages battery life much better
than most and with casual use you should expect battery cycles of several days,
even with push email active. If you make frequent calls or would listen to hours
of music a day you may want to keep your multi-country charger with you.
Our overall evaluation is that the BlackBerry Storm is a great device
that handles the convergence between business life and personal life
beautifully. This will suit the needs of those people looking for a solid
business tool with high quality media functionality.
The BlackBerry Storm is exclusive on the Vodafone network, it includes a huge
8GB microSD card and is available now from Macquarie Telecom for $59.95 per a
month (unlimited BlackBerry data included) on a 24-month contract. This offer is
limited.
Now how can we help you?
Start a conversation
today with Macquarie Telecom - Contact us for information on Blackberry
Storm for Business or other mobile or business mobility products.
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