Verizon video kicks up a Storm
SPECULATION ABOUT RIM's first touchscreen Crackberry is over thanks to a Verizon Wireless promotional video leaked to Youtube. The device is the Storm 9530.
The video was made by Mike Lanman, Verizon's chief marketing officer, in order to promote the device to company staff – given that the Storm will be exclusive to Verizon Wireless.
Crucially, the video dispels rumours that the Storm would be like the recently announced G1 Android handset and sport a slide-out keyboard.
The video, however, clearly shows that the Storm boasts an on-screen 'soft' keyboard. But, according to a INQ, source the crucial difference is that RIM has found a way of giving the soft keyboard the 'feel' of a genuine keyboard.
The INQ suspects that users will hear an audible 'click' when they press a key, thereby emulating the feedback of a physical keyboard.
Other features leaked in the Lanman video include the fact that the Storm will boast a 3.2 megapixel camera and a high-speed HTML browser. There's also support for the V2 Navigator for GPS.
Although Lanman doesn't actually say how big the Storm's screen actually is, he reckons it will be the biggest in the industry once the device ships.
This leak follows speculation that the first touchscreen Crackberry would actually be the Thunder. That's a version of the Pearl series as recently disclosed by the INQ.
The Storm is further evidence that RIM is holding up from the Ithingey's onslaught. The company recently said it now had 19 million subscribers compared to the 10.5 million it had the same time last year.
But significantly, 60 per cent of its newly acquired 2.5 million users are consumers - bringing the percentage of its user base who don't use the device for business to around 42 per cent.
Nokia N97 Touchscreen which already seems to be on sale from Freecontract
here.
Other touchscreen handsets which should follow include the Sony Ericsson X1 and Nokia's N97 Touchscreen – both of which are due next week.
Of course, the drawback with the Storm is that it is a Cdmaone device and there's no news of a GSM version. µ
See also
Blackberry
Kickstart leaked
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There will be a GSM version of the "Storm" on Vodafone as indicated by: http://www.blackberrynews.com/2008/09/23/spy-shots-prove-existence-of-gsm-only-storm/ Additionally, the Verizon version of the Strom will be both CDMA and GSM. However, I would probably choose the Vodafone version because its unlocked GPS will work around the world and Verizon locks out their GPS except for their VZ Navigator program which only works in the USA.
notice how the nokia a handfull of buttons even though it is a touch screen!! thats a very useful feature!!!