BlackBerry Storm 9500 hands-on
RIM's a little late to the touchscreen party, but comes bearing goodies. The BlackBerry Storm is a beast of a phone in more ways than one. Fronted by a meaty, high-resolution touchscreen with an innovative clicking mechanism, the phone is easily the prettiest by RIM to date.
Context & Ripple Effects
RIM's touchscreen debut arrives late: the BlackBerry Bold 9000 was positioned months earlier as the keyboard-first answer to an expected 3G iPhone, while the Storm 9500 is the company's first real bid for the all-touchscreen segment Apple and the G-1 now define. Early coverage has already mapped the device's specs and RIM's accompanying BlackBerry Application Center, so this hands-on is the first physical verdict on whether hardware can close the gap.
First-order effects
- RIM finally fields a direct touchscreen competitor to the iPhone and G-1, betting on a high-resolution display with a novel clicking mechanism — its prettiest design yet — rather than its signature keyboard.
- Buyers and carriers evaluating holiday smartphones get a third flagship platform to weigh, and reviewers' early impressions of the click screen will shape the Storm's launch narrative.
Second-order effects
- Apple and Google/HTC face pressure to respond on hardware differentiation (haptics, input innovation) as RIM stops ceding the touchscreen segment entirely.
- The Storm forces RIM's developer ecosystem into play alongside the new Application Center; if the device sells, app-store content becomes the next battleground, echoing later moves like price cuts ahead of BlackBerry 10.
Third-order effects
- A late entrant relying on one differentiating feature signals how hard it is to displace an established touch-UI platform — a pattern that foreshadows RIM's long platform decline despite repeated reinvention attempts.
- If the Storm succeeds even partially, it validates that enterprise-focused vendors must adopt consumer touchscreen norms to survive, accelerating the convergence of business and consumer smartphone design.
The trend: This is an early data point in the touchscreen-platform land grab of 2008–2009, where every incumbent — including keyboard-centric RIM — was forced to chase the iPhone's form factor or risk irrelevance.