Quick Overview of Blackberry Storm

So yesterday I went to the Verizon store to get a replacement for my broken Chocolate. I didn't walk out with a replacement I liked but I did get a chance to look at the new Blackberry Storm. I can't call it a review because I don't have it and only spent a few minutes with it, but I'll give a brief overview of its features.

Most noticeably is the bright, vivid display that looks great for viewing videos and photos. It has some OK media features, but not as good as an iPhone. The camera is 3.2 megapixels and it does take really clean looking photos. A notable physical feature is that the screen makes a click when you press it as a way to make your tapping more accurate. However, if you want to select an option, you actually have to click the screen; regular tapping just highlights the icon. The web browser was decent, but it lacked the pinching in and out of an iPhone to easily zoom in. Email is superb as this is a Blackberry standard and it prices competitively with the iPhone at $199 with an 8GB micro-SD card.

However, there are some things that prevent it from being a major competitor to the iPhone. First of all, the software is quite sluggish, which was really a turn off for me. Despite its clean user interface, the software seemed to be a little immature for what it could've been. The Storm's software beats those of other touchscreen phones, however it isn't as fluid or as easy to use as the iPhone's. To be fair, the iPhone has had over a year to develop, but I don't see the Storm as the iPhone killer people claimed it to be.

The Storm is quite a decent phone, probably the best touchscreen phone offered by Verizon, however it's sluggish software and learning curve negate the neat features and services that could make it the potential Verizon iPhone.