RIM’s Storm hits Verizon Wireless at $200
November 13 2008 - 12:21 pm ET | Phil Carson | RCR Wireless News
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The BlackBerry Storm will go for $200 at Verizon Wireless.
The new BlackBerry Storm from Research In Motion Ltd. will be available Nov. 21 at Verizon Wireless for $200, with two-year contract and $50 mail-in rebate.
The Storm’s subsidized price comes in at the same price point as Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3G with 8 GB of onboard memory — the widely accepted new price ceiling for touchscreen smartphones priced to sell.
While the Storm’s features have been touted, its price point was the critical variable awaited by the wireless industry. Several analysts have said that, given RIM’s tepid outlook — widely shared by competitors — the Storm represents a possible growth driver.
A differentiator for the Storm: the touchscreen provides a “click” response to being pressed, while the iPhone relies on its visual responsiveness and other touchscreens provide a haptic vibration.
The device will pack 3G connectivity on Verizon’s CDMA Rev. A network and offers GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz) for global roaming. Verizon parent Vodafone has said it will roll out the device in Europe.
RIM is positioning the Storm to both enterprise and consumer segments. The company, once enterprise-centric, now straddles both markets effectively. Recent data reflects that as much as 60% of RIM’s new sales are to consumers.
For Verizon, the device adds another arrow in its portfolio, which must contend with rival AT&T Mobility, which has an exclusive deal to sell the iPhone.
November 19, 2008 06:19 am
I recently switched over to AT&T from VZW and have had much better service in the Volusia area of Florida. I have also noticed that there are a lot more features available at no cost from AT&T. I'm in the military and have found that I cannot access any secured gov't sites with a blackberry, but my iphone took care of that problem when needing to receive critical information. I'll give credit to Black Berry for their document editing programs, but who's really going to sit more than ten minutes to edit a professional document on their phone? I can at least view documents on the iphone. The data with AT&T service offers email although it’s not real time. The iphone can be set to check the mail in intervals of whatever time the individual sets it for. I know the storm will do well, but I definitely know it will not out perform or offer anymore services than what the iphone already has based on the fact that communication and location are critical; two things of which VZW has many different and regular charges for. AT&T keeps the phone intact from factory, while VZW disables many features with their modified operating systems. I’ve had service with VZW for five years; my mother eight. Now that I’ve made the switch and have received better service, my mother is considering transferring over her five lines from her family plan.
November 18, 2008 06:10 am
NO WIFI!! This phone will have horrible connectivity inside my home and office without it... Get into the 21st century will ya- Verizon? I'll either have to wait for a better version to come out or I will have to buy some other product.
November 18, 2008 06:45 am
What's the word on the Omnia??...from the spec's i've seen this device appears to be a viable competitor to both the Storm and the iPhone....it just doesn't seem to be getting as much hype?
November 18, 2008 06:45 am
I'm waiting for the Omnia...from everything I've read this phone rocks!! I was told the Storm only has 1 Gig on board and VZW is packaging it with an 8 gig micro SD card
November 14, 2008 04:04 pm
Tom, just to let you know the Storm does have multi-tap. It has the suretype, full qwerty and multi-tap. And ya we can bash AT&T for network, because Verizon blows them out of the water, unless you go to Europe which how many people really do that? The iPhone is nice, not knocking it, but the Storm is for real. I have seen and played with one several times and same with an iPhone. Will see several people switch back to Verizon over this phone just wait for the numbers.
November 14, 2008 06:00 am
I said envy but I ment the dare. oops
November 14, 2008 06:00 am
Adam saying that it blows away the iphone away is an uneducated untrue fact. There are pros and cons to both device.To correctly review both devices you need to take the network out of it. Slamming ATT or bashing Verizon's "3G" doesn't reflect the phone.While the storm will sell quite well, the devices touchscreen being not multitouch will be one of its short comings. This multitouch technology allows users to type faster and not press on the screen. Thats the beauty of the iphone. The screen is heat sensitive not touch. While this phone will be verizons best seller and while it may have several features that the iphone doesnt, its still not the iphone, no touchscreen phone has gotten close. Instead of copying the iphone as all manufactures are, they need to one up, or improve over the iphone to win against it, not clone it. The HTC Diamond was an "iphone killer" and while I have one i always go back to my trusty iphone.I am not loyal to the iphone, if something better comes along, I will use it, but using all these new touchscreen devices like the diamond, the G1, the envy, and now the storm, I keep falling back to the iphone, due to it having everything I need, for both personal and business use.
November 13, 2008 01:45 pm
No Wifi...Looks little bulkier than iphone too.
November 13, 2008 01:45 pm
The storm is an amazing phone. It blows the iphone away in every category. There is no way a consumer would ever want an iphone after playing with a storm. This is the device that all other devices will be measure by.