BlackBerry
Storm 2, Challenges iPhone
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has
unveiled the Storm 2, a new version of its
touch screen Storm smartphone, marking its
latest move in the battle with Apple's
iPhone.
The Waterloo, Ontario (Canada)
-based company said the Storm 2
retains the original Storm's
clickable touch screen interface,
but improves upon it with faster
typing and "multi-touch"
capabilities, which allows users to
type on more than just one part of
the screen at a time.
The Storm, RIM's first phone without
a physical keyboard, was met with
limited success when it launched
late last year.
Many users complained about its odd
typing mechanism -- where the whole
screen moved with each tap on the
virtual keyboard -- and claimed that
they had to press too hard on the
touch screen. |
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RIM said the new Storm 2 solves that problem
with its new SurePress technology --
promising that clicking the display will be
"effortless" and that device will even know
if a finger is "resting" on the keypad or
typing.
The handset uses the same "haptics"
technology to respond to "gentle pressure"
by vibrating -- so using on its on-screen
keyboard is more similar to typing on a real
keyboard.
It also retains the Storm's built-in
3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera, music
player and access to BlackBerry App World
and BlackBerry Maps -- but doubles the
memory to 256MB, upgrades to Bluetooth 2.1
and adds Wi-Fi capability.
Verizon, the exclusive U.S. carrier of the
Storm 2, hasn't set a launch date or price,
but it is likely to appear in November at
around $200.
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