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Nov. 16, 2009

The new BlackBerry Storm 2 certainly isn't perfect but Research In Motion (RIM) is making it better than its previous version which is already a year old now. The new Storm2 is now faster, a bit lighter and more fun to use.

The Storm2's GUI is still large and its touch screen emits a fairly bright light. The buttons that were previously below the screen have been integrated.

The new Storm2 should be more responsive and offer a better overall user experience than its predecessor. Its predecessor sometimes took quite a bit of time to change from portrait to landscape mode. On the Storm2, there's little or no delay for that function.

The Storm2 also makes it easier to scroll through various lists of contacts and messages. The Storm's new virtual keyboard has been improved as well.

For example, you can type on it more easily and make fewer typos when sending e-mails and text messages, since the keys are spaced apart a bit more than its predecessor.

When the Storm 2 is powered off or asleep, the screen doesn't click and, because they're all connected, the buttons below it don't move either.

One of the most noticeable features of the original Storm was its combination of touch screen with physical feedback — you could mouse around the screen with your finger, but needed to press down on the screen to complete an action like opening an application.

Trouble was, it required some force to push. This has been solved with the Storm2.

RIM's BlackBerry App World is still just a fraction the size of Apple's App Store, which has more than 100,000 applications. Fortunately, RIM's basics are all there for keeping up with Facebook friends, communicating with Twitter, listening to music or checking the stock market.

But RIM didn't upgrade the Storm's 3.2 megapixel camera to one-up rival Apple and its popular iPhone — especially as other handset makers such as Motorola are incorporating cameras that leapfrog the 3 megapixels on the iPhone.

On another negative note, on the Storm2 we tested, Web pages tended to load rather slowly, and photos on them appeared distorted a number of times.

The Storm2 is equipped with a 16-gigabyte Micro SD card, doubling the amount of storage space for photos, videos and music.

RIM's first Storm didn't feature WiFi, but it is now included in the Storm2.

The Storm2, which is available since October 28 is offered by Verizon Wireless for $179 with a two-year contract and after the usual manufacturer's rebate.

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Source: Research In Motion.