I don't think we should be talking about an "iPhone killer™". Nothing is going to kill the iPhone, and the good news is that nobody has to even try! Just let it be what it is. It's a super-hot consumer gadget. The market is certainly big enough to support several blockbuster products (and the iPhone definitely qualifies) at the same time. How many times have we read about the latest MP3 player that is billed as the iPod killer? Hasn't happened yet. The only thing that will kill the iPhone (or iPod) is Apple themselves.

I love the landscape keyboard on the Thunder. That's huge in my book, and the only thing that might make the Thunder usable to me. The iPhone keyboard = FAIL.

As I stated in another sub-forum, I think the Thunder looks consumer-oriented with the touch screen. Wouldn't T-Mobile be a better choice for a consumer-oriented BB? Verizon looks to me to be enterprise-oriented in their offerings while TMO is clearly geared more towards consumers. SideKick anyone? If it were me calling the shots, the Thunder would be a T-Mobile device and the Javelin would be Verizon. But that's just me.

I think there is one thing that everyone is forgetting. The iPhone is GSM and in the states that means you are stuck with TMO or AT&T as far as decent sized carriers. Well there is a ton of area in the north and rural areas that GSM does not work and is basically useless. So what I am getting at is the fact that Apple who makes nice products always burns bridges and makes their sales less then the should be. Just like they do with computers. Apple runs Microsoft in the ground when many people would buy an Apple for their hardware but hate the OS. If they made a CDMA iPhone they would increase sales a lot, but instead they decide to be exclusive with a carrier that continues to under achieve. The answer to all this is that Verizon will be the one to have the Thunder so those on GSM will have their iPhone, but will not have the Thunder. I don't care for touch screen, but when I heard about this device I actually got excited because I know how great Blackberry's are. The iPhone can't even send MMS how is that advanced? The iPhone has appeal but in reality it fails to match up to a RIM product in function. By the way I like the idea of GSM but it just does not work here.

You bring up good points! My family owns 5 iphones in total. What good is a phone that is on a poor network and is riddled with problems.

Apple is still denying the poor quality of its 3G disaster...


DIEphone!!

i don't really see the value in the thunder... bb's and iphones just don't blend.. i love my iphone but i also appreciate the things that my bb does. having said that i don't see RIM producing a better touchscreen UI vs. apple.. at least not with it's first attempt

How big is the storm exactly? I know the photos shown were taken from a close range, but the phone still looks kind of big.

I don't see why the fact that the Thunder has a touch screen means the only reason RIM is making the phone is to compete with Apple. The fact that Apple was the first to have a touch screen doesn't mean every other phone with the feature is made solely to compete. All it means is that RIM saw an advantage to having a touch screen so they designed one. However for those who feel the need to endlessly compare the two products maybe its iPhone who is playing catch up as its Apple iPhone who has finally added push email to the iPhone as its one of the most appealing features of BlackBerrys.

Apple's "push email" has a long way to go to rival what RIM offers

First welcome, second thats just what I am talking about

I think it's a great idea that RIM is pushing with the Touch Device. Me personally, I'm not the biggest fan of the touch screen - I find that it is difficult to type fast on it and find it much easier to type on the "Hard" keyboard w/ texture etc. So I will probably stay w/ my current Blackberry Bold.

This is of course just a personal opinion and preference and I'm sure there are others who would much rather switch the keyboard space on the phone for better multi-media usage for watching videos and pics. It's a bit of a give and take I guess.

So I think RIM is doing a smart thing making all sides happy =)

all i can say is... ewwwwww

Alright, well lets not beat around the bush. We all know that RIM is making this phone just to compete with the iPhone. There is no other reason. They have only made phones with physical keyboards, why would they start making touchscreen now? Oh yea, because the iPhone is extremely popular. Is it a better phone than say the Curve or Bold? No, its not. But people do not know this and that is why millions upon millions of iPhones have been sold. This phone WILL be compared to the iPhone...RIM will probably compare it FOR us at CTIA during a Jobs-like keynote. So to say that RIM made this phone solely because touchscreens are "nice" is totally wrong. They did it because of the iPhone. And dont tell me the Storm was in development before the iPhone was. Thats wrong.

Well, remember the LG PRADA was out before the Iphone.

If you are telling me that the only reason RIM is making a touchscreen phone is to copy and compete with iphone then I guess we can go ahead and say the only reason anyone makes cell phones is to compete with Motorola. I mean they were the first to ever make a mobile phone

Matrix...are you following me?

Do you think if the iPhone was never released, RIM would be releasing a touchscreen? No, they would do what they do best, and thats make physical QWERTY's. But I am super excited for the Storm, dont get me wrong. I cannot wait. I'm just saying this thing is direct competition for the iPhone. Every review for the Storm will have the words, "...than the iPhone" in it.

Pretty much ANY mobile device from this point forward is compared to the iphone which is not really relevant as many devices are not trying to be the iphone or compete with it. Yes the iphone has a nice big screen and yes it's media/web functionality are the best user experience out there.

I think there is a large market percent that doesn't care about web browsing and album cover flipping. The end of the day I want a device that works, lets me improve my workflow and manage my mailbox. For now Blackberry is top in that catagory. ActiveSync is flacky and everytime I look at my WM or iphone it's not updated and I have to reboot to kick it back in. So for all the knocks against the way RIM routes email .. it works flawlessly. Wireless sync / reconcile works great too. Using OS 4.5 the other workflow improvements become even greater:

Calendar free / busy lookup
document saving / editing
HTML email

Apple is a great device if work is not your main priority .. I'd say I'm 80% work and 20% personal usage.

Regarding the whole storm - if and when it's annouced it will be interesting and to me .. the part Apple still doesn't get:

I have full control over the device and can apply policy and manage the device through the BES.

Since i got the LG Voyager, i've wondered how i managed to get by using a qwerty keyboard and real buttons. I'm never going back to actual buttons. Bring on the Storm, baby.

I love my BB, but the only thing I really don't like is that real web browsing is still not possible. The screen is just too small and the phone is too slow. That is why the Storm is so appealing. Same great interface, but with the added features I want. I will need the ability to still run my apps though.

I think this phone is gonna own the DIEphone... Its garbage and I slept out for both releases. I was so excited to get the 3g till I got it home and realized it wasn't nearly as good as the gen 1.

Don't be fooled people, If the BB stays true to the know quality they have in the past this thing will wipe the floor with the I-Blown and remember you have it on the best network in the USA, VERIZON.

Im so tired of Apple denying the problems with the iphone..Its Ludacris that so many ppl are having the same troubles (Lag, Poor 3G etc..) and they still deny it when you walk into a store to complain. I hope the Storm destroys the iphone and apple learns a valuable lesson about customer service.

Lets drop the fanboy games. Good for Verizon/Voda on the rumor they are getting the exclusive on the Storm in the US. RIM has made the Apple iPhone a strong device as well as Apple making RIM continue to innovate strong devices. If RIM chose to give native support to more than just the windows OS over the years they could have certainly made Apple's job tougher. However what the service provider's think is good for them is not good for the device manufacture or end users.

Exclusives suck for consumers and would hope all device manufactures smarten up soon and stop the service provider games and/or at very least give each device a way to be sold unlocked, and unbranded. It's not a lie that Apple would sell a TON more iPhones if they made both a GSM and a CDMA model with no exclusive deals, the same goes for RIM. RIM would sell a TON more Blackberry's if they made both GSM and CDMA models with no exclusive deals.

As for the service providers it's always been the same story and always will be till Verizon and ATT upgrade to 4G LTE in the next few years. Some places Verizon is better, some places ATT is better, both are top tier service providers. Both cripple hardware. The device manufactures should be the ones in control of the hardware since the providers in crippling devices are altering the function and design of the device to the consumer. With unlocked, unbranded, uncrippled devices the providers would make more in the long run from just doing what they are meant to do, provide the service.

Apple makes RIM innovate
RIM makes Apple innovate
ATT makes Verizon innovate
Verizon makes ATT innovate

And the educated consumer wins......

The problem is there aren't enough educated consumers.

amen.

this is true they should have a stylus like with the nintendo ds to make typing and textin easier

360° animated product shots of the new Storm - you can see it from all angles!

BlackBerry Storm 9500 Mobile Phone - animated picture (portrait) | BlackBerry Storm Mobile Phone Reviews

BlackBerry Storm 9500 Mobile Phone Pictures! (landscape view) | BlackBerry Storm Mobile Phone Reviews

Thanks for the post! The Storm is looking better by the day. Just not too sure about the touchscreen yet..