First off, I apologize for the poor image quality. It’s been well documented what a terrible photographer I am and the coffee isn’t helping. I’ll try to get better shots later, when the RIM police aren’t around. Anyways, here are my quick hands on thoughts.
The device itself is more svelte than you’d expect from photos, being less wide and long than the BlackBerry Bold and about as thick (albeit without the Bold’s slimmer and sexier leather backing). It fits comfortably in your hand both vertically and horizontally, but if you’re looking for one handed texting, SureType is the way to go.
The screen? Works perfectly. RIM knocked it out of the park. You immediately grasp how to use it (from many years of practice with the scrollwheel and scrollball, natch.) and you don’t have to click the screen in very hard to select.
In terms of texting, a couple of tweaks need to be made to get it perfect. First, selecting small input fields is a little tricky right now (like the “http: bar” in the browser), but that’s being worked on. Also, editing something you’ve already written is problematic, because your finger usually covers up the area you’re scrolling to. A magnifying glass feature like on the iPhone would be helpful.
I didn’t get to try copy and paste, but I will as soon as I can get my hands on the device again.
No Wi-Fi hurts at this conference. The Storm was running on GSM and the EDGE speed to load the BlackBerry Cool website was killer. Also, the browser still has some rendering/javascript issues, but the device isn’t out yet so give it time.
All and all, it’s the BlackBerry experience with a touchscreen. Good job, RIM!
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Read the rest of BBDC: First hands-on with the BlackBerry Storm (291 words)
