Over the past few weeks, I have used about a dozen smartphones. The experience has convinced me that touchscreens will soon be the main way we control phones — and that the days of miniature keyboards may well be numbered. This would seem to be bad news for Research In Motion. Even though its keyboard-centric BlackBerrys have gained market share in the face of Apple’s iPhone onslaught, those little keys feel very last year. RIM is now demonstrating that it has the problem licked.
The company introduced its first touch model, the Storm, about a year ago, earning strong sales but mixed reviews. (I liked it a lot better than most.) Now, RIM is back with a vastly improved Storm 2, available from Verizon Wireless and Vodafone later this fall.
Thicker Than an iPhone
The Storm 2 appears almost identical to its predecessor. It’s a bit shorter and thicker than an iPhone, with a slightly smaller display. The biggest change is in the touch mechanism. The original Storm used a microswitch under the center of the display to activate an onscreen selection — pressing a key on the virtual keyboard, launching an app, or going to a Web link. The Storm 2 replaces the switch with sensors at the display’s corners. When you tap for an action, you get a tactile click so convincing you will swear the glass has moved, though it hasn’t.
This small change produces a huge difference in usability. When typing on the original, you had to lift your finger to release the switch before you could press the next key, which had a nasty effect on the rhythm of typing. The new keyboard feels much more natural, and I found that both my speed and accuracy improved significantly. In addition, the display is now completely sealed around the edges,…