The BlackBerry Storm has been debuting around the world, but rumors are spreading about a possible shortage in the U.S. News reports also indicate Research In Motion discovered a security flaw in the Storm that has left Verizon Wireless scrambling to update the firmware in the final hours before its U.S. release on Friday.
Neither RIM nor Verizon were immediately available for comment. The much-anticipated BlackBerry Storm will be available exclusively from Verizon in the U.S.
“The BlackBerry Storm is big deal for Verizon Wireless customers,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. “There’s pent-up demand for a touchscreen BlackBerry and there’s pent-up demand for a touchscreen smartphone at Verizon, especially since AT&T has the corner on the iPhone.”
Broad Market Appeal
The Storm was designed to appeal to both consumers and businesses. Ir combines the communications features, global connectivity, and productivity tools expected from a BlackBerry with a touchscreen technology to make typing easier and more precise.
RIM is billing the BlackBerry Storm as having the world’s first “clickable” touchscreen. It does qualify as RIM’s first attempt at an iPhone-like experience. The company said it responds much like a physical keyboard and also supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures for intuitive and efficient application navigation.
“The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touchscreen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touchscreens,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at RIM. “Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface.”
Mixed Media Advantages
BlackBerry Storm customers can tap into a full HTML high-performance browser that works in either portrait or landscape orientation. Users will navigate Web sites with the touchscreen interface that lets them double-tap to zoom in and slide…