BlackBerry Storm 2 to Rain On iPhone's Parade?

The BlackBerry Storm 2 aims to make up for the the BlackBerry Storm. The original device was much-hyped as an "iPhone killer." It disappointed dramatically. The device, launched on Verizon's network, was a touch-screen smartphone with a virtual keyboard, no hard QWERTY keyboard, and more consumer functionality than was typical, at the time, for a RIM device.

The problem with the first Storm, that the BlackBerry Storm 2 hopes to correct, was all about bugs, omitted features, as well as strangeness in terms of the all-important touchscreen. It led to dissatisfaction among end users.

First, the Storm's touchscreen moved when tapped. This was a design decision, to provide tactile feedback, but wasn't well received. The BlackBerry Storm 2 fixes that issue, using an electronic sort of tactile feedback.

Secondly, the Storm lacked wi-fi. In this day and age, that's a big omission. Palm might want to re-consider its lack of wi-fi on the Palm Pixi, the next webOS device. Once again, the BlackBerry Storm 2 fixes that.

Another strange decision was the virtual keyboard in portrait mode. In that mode, the Storm used a virtual keyboard that was cramped, with multiple letters per virtual key. The BlackBerry Storm 2 again fixes that.

The BlackBerry Storm 2 price and actual launch date on the Verizon network are still TBD. Also TBD, even with the modifications that RIM made, is if BB users will switch to an interface that's dramatically different. One more negative is that the Storm 2's web browser is still vastly inferior to the iPhone's, Android's or WebOS's.

Smartphone manufacturers are all moving toward touchscreens, because of the popularity of the iPhone. What many still fail to "get," is that it's not about the touchscreen, it's about the user experience. In other words, it's the iPhone OS. Admittedly, the lack of background processing and Apple's App Store restrictions have annoyed many, but the BlackBerry Storm 2 still has a ways to go before it can be called a real "iPhone killer."