The Blackberry Storm from Vodafone

Jan 12, 2009 Gadgets

Vodafone has announced the launch of the BlackBerry Storm in India, the first ‘clickable’ touchscreen phone it has developed exclusively with Research In Motion (RIM). With a touchscreen keypad, which can be done away with when not needed, the ‘Storm’ gives a lot of space for visual experience, an advantage over earlier Blackberry models. The SurePress touchscreen depresses slightly to aid in typing and navigation and to give users an experience they can actually feel.

Blackberry phones were in the news recently on account of security concerns expressed by the government as these phones use encrypted data for transmitting e-mails through servers located outside the country.

The phone has a sleek design with contoured corners, stainless steel back and chrome accents surrounding its large (3.25″) glass lens. Some features:

Crisp 480 x 360 resolution at 184 ppi
3.2 megapixel camera with variable zoom, auto focus
A powerful flash that provides continuous lighting when recording video
Built-in GPS supports location-based applications and services and geotagging of photos
1 GB of onboard memory storage and a microSD^TM/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 16 GB of additional storage
Media player that can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, has an equalizer with 11 preset filters
3.5 mm stereo headset jack, support for Bluetooth® stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP) and dedicated volume controls
Accelerometer that allows customers to view applications in either portrait or landscape mode by simply rotating the handset
Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery that provides approximately 6 hours of talk time on 3G networks and 15 days of standby time

It also comes loaded with a host of apps like

BlackBerry® Internet Service, BlackBerry® Unite!, BlackBerry® Professional Software and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support
Preloaded DataViz® Documents to Go® allows users to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset
Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Flickr Photo Uploader

Priced at Rs.27,990, the phone is set to be available in select Vodafone stores by January 15. When I tried to search the Vodafone site, vodafone.in had no mention of the Storm at all, whereas vodafone.com had the info. I guess there is no point in asking customer care, as I’m still waiting for someone to reply to my query (December 18) regarding the Blackberry Bold !!