As we all know, Storm, RIM’s attempt to launch the Blackberry in the touch screen world was not very successful. Though the phone was initially well received, eventual cropping up of bugs and glitches saw the phone lose its rankings briskly. The Storm, launched now in its second avatar is an attempt by RIM to rectify the flaws of the original. The Storm 2 does everything that the Storm did; only it does it much better. The phone still has to catch up with its contemporaries, i.e., Samsung Omnia 2 and or the HC Touch Pro2. But RIM’s attempt at snatching a piece of the touch screen pie is definitely commendable.

Verdict:

If you a die hard Blackberry addict, then this phone should be your calling. Otherwise, a little bit of patience will get you the soon to be released Omnia 2 or the Motorola Droid which definitely seem better.

The Storm 2 sports the exact same looks as its predecessor, well, almost. Closer inspection reveals subtle changes which have been introduced-like the tinted chrome ring around the edges replacing the silver one and additional controls on the side. But overall, the package is almost the same. The storm 2 still weighs around 160 Gms and sports a large 3.2 inch touch screen display. For further information on the design, check out the review of the Blackberry Storm here.

So why a Storm 2 then? Let’s have a look at what has really changed. Newer controls have been added to the side – on the left, a customizable convenience key on the left and a volume rocker and a second shortcut key on the right. But all this is only eye candy. SurePress Technology, which manages the touch screen, has been revamped to make it sharper and more sensitive to touch. The mechanical suspension system has been replaced by an electric one which sends out an impulse to simulate a click. SureType sure does it for the Storm2.

Another advantage is now you can work just the way you do with the computer keyboard. Capitalization can be achieved by pressing the shift key and a letter key. Copy and paste is now multi touch supported and the interface is better animated featuring transitioning applications and menus.

Improved though not new, the 3.2 MP Camera now features flash, geotagging capabilities, image stabilization, and the standard camera tools. The picture quality is better than expected for both still images and video as well.

A secondary video call camera is yet to find its place in the phone.

The music and video player is pretty much the same as was featured in the Storm and comes with support for almost all file formats. The player features the standard functions like search, playlists and full screen mode for video

Connectivity has never been an issue with Blackberry phones and the Storm2 is no different. We also have Wi-Fi now. Yay! The only hitch being surfing the waves once you are launched. The Blackberry Browser could do with some up gradation.

Email support is just as legendary and supports all formats in addition to the Push email. As for messaging, in addition to the Blackberry Messenger, the phone also comes with preloaded clients IM for Windows Live, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, and AIM.

The GPS passed all our tests of finding locations and roads. The supporting app provides voice guided instructions in addition to the graphical display of the maps.

Display: 3.2 inch TFT capacitive screen with a resolution of 360 x 480 pixels and support for 65K colors.
Dimensions: 112.5 x 62.2 x 13.9 mm.
Weight: 155 Gms.
Camera: Main camera – 3.2 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, geotagging capabilities, image stabilization, and the standard camera tools.
Secondary camera – No.
Audio: Music player with support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR.
Video: WMV, MP4, 3GP, H.264.
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging with preinstalled clients for popular messaging clients.
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, miniUSB,Wi-Fi.
Internet: GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Blackberry Browser.
Games: Built-in and downloadable.
Memory: 2GB internal with support for microSD unto 32 GB.
Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1400 mAh with talk time of 5.5 hours and standby of 270 hours.
Extras:
* Enhanced SureType technology.
* Virtual Full QWERTY keypad.
* Voice memo.
* Organizer complete with Calendar, a task list, a memo pad, a voice recorder, a calculator.
* DataWiz Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF).
* Threaded message view.
* Voice dial.
* Accelerometer.
* Direct links for popular social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
* Direct download of apps and songs from Blackberry Store.
* Visual voicemail.