BLACKBERRY STORM

BLACKBERRY STORM

 Storms are often given a bad rap, for while beautiful they can also be destructive. Not so the Blackberry Storm.

It certainly created a bit of a market frenzy when it arrived, with some users finding the massive design changes a bit too much to handle and somewhat off putting. But those who embraced the Storm weren't disappointed. Indeed, die-hard Blackberry fans were aghast when news of the Storm broke because the device was missing one attribute that all previous Blackberry handsets had boasted as a main usability point: a keyboard. The Storm has a 3.25in screen, but no hard keyboard. Not even a little one.

But what the Storm lacks in keyboard tradition, it makes up for in innovation: enter the age of the tilting screen, featuring different virtual keyboards and a satisfying click that reassures you your commands are being met.

In addition to being sensitive and depressing to signify its response to your commands, the Storm's display is very generous. It offers a resolution of 480x360 pixels to show off high-definition detail and works the built-in accelerometerto make the most of portrait-to-landscape changeovers. This makes surfing the web, writing texts and watching videos much better than with the handset upright.

While the BlackberryStorm includes a 3.2-megapixel camera with the usual fe?tures (auto flash, auto focus and 2x digital zoom), it also boasts video recording of up to 30 frames per second (fps) and supports the H.263, H.264, MP4 and WMV file formats.

The Storm also boasts neat features such as the mute and lock keys on the top of the handset to avoid those embarrassing "I can't talk right now, I'm on the loo..." moments.

For those of you who like to make the most of your downtime, applications such as Facebook, Flickr and YouTube will prove pleasing. However, what's not so pleasing, is the omission of Wi-Fi. This is, to say the least, a bit of a shame, but the loss can be overcome thanks to the inclusion of 3G. This connectivity option helps with speedy uploads and downloads for general web action or uploading the latest pictures to Facebook et al.

It's no secret RIM has become something of a golden child among business users, keeping them in touch with the world of work, via email, wherever they are. But the Storm heralds a new era in which the BlackBerry maker can also please the consumer crowd without alienating its business clients.

As such, for consumers, it offers video, music and other more basic mobile phone functions, while, for business users, it offers all the usual corporate tools, but in a much more appealing shell.

 Indeed, gone are the days when people were ashamed to get their phones out of their pockets during meetings; the BlackBerry Storm is a beauty of a device and one that people will want to show off. What's more it boasts up to 6 hours' talk time and 15 days' standby, according to RIM.

Countless mobile manufacturers have re-designed perfectly good products and got it horribly wrong. Thankfully, the Storm is an innovation that has worked out just fine. There will always be a hard core of traditional keyboard enthusiasts who decide the Storm is not for them or don't like the gap between the screen edge and outer casing, but there will also be many who celebrate the step forward in usability and wholeheartedly embrace the change in weather.