Battle for Touchscreen Supremacy - IPhone Vs. Storm

In the battle for smartphone supremacy, Canada's own RIM (Research in Motion) has long been one of the strongest contenders - if not the occupier of the throne, depending on who you ask. Ever since the touchscreen shakeup provided by Apple's iPhone however, many mobile manufacturers have turned to new ways to strike back and retain market share, with several offering touchscreen alternatives themselves.

Now, RIM is pulling out the stops with the Blackberry Storm, a phone decidedly more angled at the consumer sect than their previous business-only offerings, but still retaining the traditional Blackberry essence. Many consumers are left on the sidelines, dazed by the clash from these two touchscreen titans. Which handset is the best? While it's hard to say given that different phone users are looking for different things, I can lay out the facts for you.

Push Notifications

Business users know the necessity of not just successfully receiving information, but receiving it instantaneously via "Pushing". Push Notifications provide for such instant gratification. Instead of relying on the user to manually "fetch" data, push functions automatically alert a user when an email, instant message, Facebook post, or most anything else is sent your way. Not only does the technology have obvious business applications, but it's also catching on heavily with the consumer crowd. BlackBerry users (or "Crackberry" users as they are sometimes jokingly called) will find this feature in the new Storm, but Apple has delayed their version of Push technology (which goes through Apple's servers in an attempt to conserve battery life) indefinitely, past the original September release date. This could be a make or break for many.

Memory

Well, this one should be easy, right? The Blackberry Storm comes with 1GB of onboard memory, while the iPhone comes packed with a minimum of 8 gig, with a maximum of 16 depending on what model you purchase. Wrong. It isn't so cut and dry. The Storm has memory expandable up to 16GB thanks to microSD cards, and an 8GB microSD card comes with your phone upon pick up. This means Storm owners have 9GB to play around with, right away. The question is, what do you value: easily movable memory, or not having to deal with small, easy to lose cards?

Screen

Tactile feedback? The Storm is attempting to champion the field of the "clicky" touchscreen by presenting a phone that has its screen on springs. Sounds nifty, but how does it stack up to traditional touchscreen offerings, such as what is provided by the iPhone? Reviews on this front range from giving RIM the nod for providing the physical-sensation of a click, to decrying the choice of the manufacturer and complaining that the pressing and depressing of the device only hampers quick typing, not help it. This is an important distinction between the two handsets, but only test runs on both phones can provide the reader with any basis for making a decision on this aspect.

Are You Not Entertained?

It's no secret that the Storm is RIMs push to capture more of the consumer mindshare, so how does the Blackberry match up to the iPhone in this respect? Not altogether well in a number of categories, looking at the list of features. While the Storm provides mp3 and video playback, the iPhone is a full-fledged new-generation iPod with all the tasty trappings consumers have grown accustomed to (Coverflow, etc.), and iTunes implementation is of course in full effect. And while RIM is providing a home for third-party applications via their own Applications Center (available only on OS 4.7 and not yet on other Blackberrys), it has some catching up to do - as can be expected, there are far fewer applications available on the new, carrier-controlled Center than there is on iPhone's successful App Store. The Storm also lacks 3D hardware acceleration.

That said, if you're hoping to catch the wild antics of your friends during lunch break at the office or that upcoming Friday night kegger, the Storm is your go-to-guy, as video recording on the iPhone is nonexistent. Also, pictures of said debauchery should come out a little better on the Storm's 3.2 megapixel camera (iPhone comes in at just 2 megapixels).

Conclusion

The above is just the short list of features of the two phones however - I compared the main selling points of the handsets. A number of other features may be of great import to readers - the lack of Stereo Bluetooth on the iPhone, the lack of Wi-Fi support on the Storm - so it'll be up to more discerning readers to test run the two phones and make their ultimate decision. Still, I hope those not-in-the-know will walk away from this article more informed and possibly with a selection in mind.