Blackberry Storm tricks & tips

About a month ago, I decided to move over to a smart phone from a good 3.2 megapixel still/ video phone, a Samsung ACH-990. I wanted to forward between a work/home phone without cost, so my decision was slanted toward the Verizon offerings.

This isn't an endorsement or an ongoing comparison, but rather an observation of using a Blackberry Storm for better or worse to help anyone with one or considering options for a phone application.

I considered the iPhone 3G from AT&T, as it is the dominant player in the smart phone game. Other smart phones in the running were the Samsung Omnia (5 megapixil !) and the HTC Touch.

Why I picked a Blackberry Storm

A phone is a tool. Like my plumbing, electrical and woodworking tools, I use the tool that works best for the job. I am photojournalist who is always looking for new ways to refine and speed up the process of transmitting still photos, video and data. I use multiple email accounts, picture/video and text messaging extensively.

I was intrigued by the iPhone but it quickly fell out of the running. No video capability, no picture/video messaging and a 2 megapixel camera with no flash or mechanical auto-focus. No multi-tasking of applications, no multi-threading of multiple server and web email accounts all running at the same time. No turn-by-turn navigation. No insurance. No replaceable battery. I have been going through a couple of phones per year. One got destroyed at a fire last year.

The iPhone is a fine tool for people dedicated to the Apple platform and find innovative uses sifting through a billion applications, but there were basic necessities of being a picture/video phone that I needed before considering all else.

The Samsung Omnia had a horrible screen and I never could get the Windows Mobile based phone to work right at the store. Like the Blackberry Storm, this multitasking phone usually has every possible application running opened in odd ways by every person who has touched it that day. The Verizon salespeople wouldn't let me cold boot the phones and they were tethered to an alarm/power source The Windows Mobile HTC Touch with a slide out keyboard seemed flimsy and cheap with a tiny screen.

Why I am writing this

While I have nothing against the iPhone, most of the reviews for the Blackberry Storm appear to be written by iPhone users comparing everything to their iPhone without connecting to the philosophy behind the Blackberry's design.

I want to share some tricks and observations that I figured out along the way without comparing the Blackberry Storm to anything.

Here's the tool, lets make it work.