TG: BlackBerry Storm - with the surprise screen

[marypcbuk]

The Blackberry Storm is RIM’s first touch-screen device, and it is designed to appeal to a consumer market that’s crazy about the iPhone. It has the largest screen of any Blackberry to date, and to make room for that 3.25” touch screen, RIM has left out what most people think is the definitive feature of every other Blackberry: the keyboard.

Instead, the on-screen keyboard uses what RIM calls 'tactile-touch' feedback that it claims offers 'easy and precise touch screen typing'. In fact, its a spring-loaded touch screen that acts like a big button...
 Read more about the Storm, haptics, and the storm over whether it has haptics

I was certainly expecting haptics of the vibrotactile variety from the reports on the rumour sites and I got to have some very interesting conversations researching that. I'm looking forward to trying the Storm to see if the clicking screen - which might count as kinaesthetic haptics but certainly isn't the vibrotactile kind - because I can type a *lot* on a QWERTY phone. Switching from Extended T9 on the Dash to standard QWERTY on the BlackJack II is taking a little readjustment, but long-term readers will remember my long-text posts from my New Zealand trip (when I had to take the typing on a BlackBerry disclaimer off when people complained there were no spelling mistakes!)