Research in Motion, Vodafone and Verizon Wireless are hoping to take the holiday season by Storm with Wednesday’s announcement of a new RIM touchscreen smartphone. The BlackBerry Storm, available later this fall, will be offered exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers in the United States and to Vodafone customers in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand.
‘Revolutionary Touchscreen Technology’
The Storm’s calling card is what the companies call its “revolutionary touchscreen technology.” The device is intended to enhance user interaction and typing with the world’s first “clickable” touchscreen. To make a selection, the user slightly pushes down the screen in an action described by RIM as being “much like a physical keyboard.” The screen also supports single-touch, multi-touch and gesture interaction.
Mike Lazaridis, RIM president and co-CEO, said the new design “solves the long-standing problem associated with typing on traditional touchscreens,” offering a “large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface.”
In the U.S., the Storm supports Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO Rev A network, and Vodafone’s 3G network in Europe and other countries.
Integrating Navigation and Confirmation
The BlackBerry Storm features a built-in accelerometer, so the screen can automatically switch between landscape and portrait orientation. Double-tapping allows users to zoom in, and sliding fingers result in a scroll or pan.
An enhanced browser facilitates streaming audio and video, and built-in RSS support. There’s also a 3.2-megapixel camera with variable zoom, a built-in GPS for location-based applications, 1GB of onboard memory, a microSD/SDHD memory-card slot for up to 16GB of additional storage, and a media player for movies, music and slides.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said the clickable screen is an attempt by RIM to integrate navigation and confirmation. “On a device like an Apple iPhone or HTC Touch,” he said, “you could accidentally select something just by putting your finger on it,”…