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The 1st Blackberry came onto the scene in 1999, ushering in a new age in electronic combo devices. The Blackberry (before Blackberry Cellular Phones was originaly intended as a complicated pager. But its local messaging system was so effective it earned a rapid cult following to such an extent that Webster’s New World School Compendium named “crackberry” the “New Word of the Year”. The Storm, Rim’s latest BlackBerry, is an attempt to un-king the mighty iPhone, which does have a tight hold on being the #1 selling cellular telephone. The Storm’s partner on this is Verizon, as it is being offered as part of Verizon Wireless, who is still reeling from its mistake of turning down Steve Jobs’ iPhone (Verizon as a carrier). If Verizon is attempting to make amends for missing the iPhone, it’s at least heading in the correct direction. The Storm has a widescreen touchscreen graphical user interface that provides much of the same features as the iPhone, but with some enhancements for the touchscreen display. The outcome of these betterments are mixed. Unlike with a real keyboard, simulated keys onscreen are not able to keep up with any fast typing. Old School Blackberry “thumbing” addicts will most likely not be in a position to rattle off messages with equal accuracy.

The clickthrough interface needs a good bit of practice if you want to become accustomed to pushing the touch-sensitive screen down until there’s a click, in complete contrast to the seamless interactivity offered by the iPhone.

Likewise, since your finger is on it, the blue highlight that displays to confirm the active status of a given button is active is hard to see.

So if it’ll go down in history as a design mishap or an all out mistake, is still to be seen. Last and maybe least, this Blackberry also does not have the predictive spelling aid functions of the iPhone. If you are a bad speller, the Blackberry won’t offer you much of a safety net. The browser renders HTML quickly and thoroughly, utilizing context-sensitive page-dragging features that enable you to navigate any given webpage. The sole gripe here is that form fields are a little troublesome to fill out. While the browser earned high marks, the absence of Wi-Fi on the telephone is quite a mystery. Though Verizon’s EV-DO coverage is wonderful, there are tons of circumstances where Wi-Fi would have been quite useful. As for the heavy, commercial design, Blackberry will be given a thumbs-up.

The benefit of discarding the tactile keyboard and trademarked trackball behind is a faster, flatter, three.25 in. awesome glass face. Four familiar Blackberry keys are at the base of the telephone Telephone , Menu, Back, and End / Power. The wireless cell phone also comes ready with a mini USB key and also 3.5mm headset jack. One possible drawback of the design – is the issue of whether metal construction is superior to plastic. The phone is matched with the even more wonderful Verizon (for cellular service coverage) that should keep the Storm well positioned in the race to become cell phone king.