The BlackBerry Storm2. To say it has been highly anticipated would be an understatement. Before the original BlackBerry Storm was available to customers, the first rumors of the Storm 2 began to surface. Research in Motion even acknowledged the existence of the new device much earlier than they historically would, when RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in a presentation to analysts and investors (reported by Reuters) in May 2009 that they were working on a next generation of its BlackBerry Storm as part of a continuing push into the retail market. From that point, it was less than two weeks later when the first photos of the new BlackBerry Storm were posted to the internet right here at CrackBerry.com which was followed up soon after when we brought you the first video of the BlackBerry Storm 2 in action. In the weeks following and leading up to the Storm2's "official" announcement, youtube has been full of "unofficial" BlackBerry Storm2 9550 and 9520 previews (Verizon's Storm2 is the 9550; Vodafone's is the 9520) showing off early-stage hardware and firmware. Due to this unofficial nature, most early Storm2 videos/photos disappeared from the web as quickly as they appeared, but now that we have an official review unit you can rest assured knowing Storm2 content is now here to stay.
So how does the BlackBerry Storm2 compared to the Storm? When all is said and done, the most accurate explanation I can think of is to draw an analogy to the automotive industry and how car manufacturers release a new car and follow up with a new model each year. It is often said that you should not buy the "first year" of a new car, as there is bound to be issues, and nobody will argue in the case of the BlackBerry Storm that the device as it went to market experienced some issues (lag, more lag, and a bit more still lag still). RIM's strength over the years lay in making non-touchscreen devices featuring a physical keyboard, so adapting the BlackBerry operating system to touchscreen hardware was a new game for them. A few recalls (aka firmware upgrades) later, however, and the BlackBerry Storm is now a much more usable device. In fact, if you haven't touched a BlackBerry Storm in a while you might be surprised at just how well it performs. And that brings us to the next part of this analogy. If you think of the Storm as the 2009 model year, the BlackBerry Storm2 really is the 2010 model year. Yes it's new, it's improved and it features some additional bells and whistles not found in the 2009 model and overall is a better performing and easier to use smartphone, but it doesn't immediately make the old model year obsolete.
Existing Storm owners who have invested the time and energy to get comfortable on their device and have upgraded to the latest firmware (OS 5.0 just around the corner!) may find after picking up and playing with the Storm2 in a store that they're able to stick it out with their Storm until they are eligible for an upgrade. Others of course, may find the addition of WiFi alone to be enough of a reason to pay the penalties and upgrade to the Storm2 immediately. Just like cars, you're always going to want the new model year, even if you got a great lease/finance rate on picking up last year's model. But enough with the analogy, let's get to what's new in the Storm2.
Picking up the BlackBerry Storm2, it's clear that Research in Motion's thought process here was simply to build a better BlackBerry Storm. They weren't thinking about building an iPhone killer or worrying about what Palm is up to with their Web OS or what the next wave of Android phones might look like. RIM looked at the original BlackBerry Storm, assessed where it was great, where it was good, where it was bad and where it was ugly and they fixed it. I'm sure many of the BlackBerry Storm2 reviews that emerge will state the BlackBerry Storm2 is what the original BlackBerry Storm should have been, and well, they'll all be right. We don't want to dwell too much on the Storm's shaky start; after all, it was a pretty big success for RIM from a sales standpoint, but it's impossible to review the Storm2 without looking back at the original BlackBerry Storm.
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