A BlackBerry with a Touch Screen – the BlackBerry Storm

The BlackBerry Storm is the most recent introduction - to the smart phone market - by BlackBerry. This is their first ever phone with a touch screen! As a matter-of-fact, it is a full screen smart phone, meaning the keyboard is accessible only on the LCD display. The BlackBerry Storm offers a multitude of application and functions for consumers around the world!

The accessories, shipped with this unit, are phenomenal: travel charger with an assortment of adapters, a USB cable, an 8GB microSD card, a SIM card, a wired headset, a software CD, and user manual. Consumers have everything they need upon delivery of their unit. Additionally, the phone itself has many amazing features, such as a 3.2 megapixel camera, built-in GPS, media player, video recording, email, organizer, phone, browser, corporate data access, and SMS / MMS.

The latest version of BlackBerrys OS - version 4.7 - is standard on the storm. This version offers a new user interface, one that is more exciting and easy to navigate! Users will also be able to edit documents, like word and excel, due to DataViz Documents. The Standard Version comes with the phone; however, you can upgrade to Premium if you choose. (If you're planning on creating new documents, from your Storm, you will need to upgrade to Premium.)

The Storm is one of the first smart phones to take advantage of SurePress. This technology changes the way users interact with the touch screen; SurePress makes the screen clickable. While it takes a bit to get used to, if you are used to other touch screens, it is a nice bonus to the phone.

The Storms 3.25-inch TFT LCD 480 x 360 resolution 65,000 color display is one of the most beautifully crisp displays available on a smart phone.

The BlackBerry Storm has an accelerometer, which allows the display to switch from portrait to landscape based on how the phone is being held. Consumers also have the option to adjust backlight settings, font size, and font type. All of which provide users with a personalized experience.

There is no physical keyboard, on this phone, as it is a full touch screen phone. The keyboards are accessed through the display. If you are in portrait mode, you will have access to the SureType board, and if you are in landscape mode, you will use the QWERTY board.

Both keyboards are functional, yet small. The size does make it a bit difficult to type long messages and makes for numerous typos.

Even thought the Storm is a bit wider than the average smart phone, it still fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. It weighs in around 5.5 ounces, making it an average weight.

One of the advantages, to the BlackBerry Storm, is the battery life - with 15 days of standby time and 6 hours of talk time - this smart phone lasts longer than many others do. On the other hand, overall performance, from this unit, has been disappointing. Firmware upgrades have not even been able to fix all of the performance issues.

On the whole, this is a BlackBerry phone. It is backed by a good name and warranty. If you are looking for a standard smart phone, at a decent price, the Storm is a good pick for you.