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BlackBerry Storm – The Aftermath.

Thanks to Ripplevox/Starhub and BlackBerry, I had a chance to play with the BlackBerry Storm here’s what I think about it after being in a storm for a month. Despite the fact that I refused to join the iPhone craze (or rather, because Starhub refuses to bring iPhone in), the BlackBerry Storm is no iPhone…not even close.

Just like every other BlackBerry, the Storm is no wannabe for business clients. You have the usual BlackBerry highlights such as email-on-the-go, BlackBerry IM and its own app store. It looks smart and professional (though the Storm looks alil too fat, I almost thought it was a flip phone). Don’t get me wrong, fabulous features but most of the time I feel like it’s taking a long while to load. Quite laggy responses as compared to how I “abuse” my N82 or iPod Touch.

With the feature of accelerometer like iPhone, it was much easier to type on the touchscreen with the SureType keyboard than when the phone was in horizontal, full Qwerty keyboard mode since the buttons are bigger. I really could not get used to “punching hard” on the touchscreen instead of the usual “clicking” of the keypads or just “gliding” my fingers over the iPhone touchscreen.

Instead of comparing  Storm to the iPhone or even other smartphones (and getting whiney and providing solely negtive feedbacks), consumers should compare it to other BlackBerries. In which they may like what the BlackBerry team has put together for them: A big touchscreen, a 3.2MP camera that takes video with a proper flash, a respectable Web browser and a touchscreen typing system that is uniquely BlackBerry. (Although personally I think the trade-off is Big Screen vs “proper” typing system aka keypad between the BlackBerries)

Personally I liked the screen as well and the camera is definitely better than iPhone’s, I thought the apps were rather limited but I believe the BlackBerry team is building on it. I like the twitter app most (duh) and if not for the lagginess, the maps feature is rather useful for direction blind people like me. I have to admit that holding the Storm makes you look “professional” and you have envy eyes stealing glances at you while you type on your BlackBerry (with much struggles).

More on the Blackberry Storm and starhub’s data plan soon !

Tags: 3.2MP camera, accelerometer, blackberry, blackberry IM, iphone, ipod touch, N82, professional, qwerty keyboard, ripplevox, smartphone, starhub, storm, suretype keyboard, touchscreen, twitter

Nokia : Comes With Music

How can you not be impressed by the people at Nokia ?

Tired of downloading music onto your computers (be it legally or *coughs* illegally) then transferring them to your phones AND mp3 players ?  The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is your solution – it is not only just a phone but also comes with  FREE unlimited songs to download on-the-go !

SMU Campus Radio was invited to the Nokia Radio Show aka the official media launch of Nokia’s new “Comes with Music” phones last week. (Kudos to the people at Text100 and the boyfriend) Being Nokia users ourselves, Ser Hua and myself were really excited to know more about this new series.

The Muttons from 987 hosted the event, there were stage games and casual interviews with the Nokia people and record labels for us to understand the Nokia’s new campaign better.

NOKIA 5800 – Games Segment from Ingrid on Vimeo.

We had Ser Hua as our repsentative for the game segment too !

Nokia 5800 – Games Segment #2 from Ingrid on Vimeo.

The main feature is how you can download unlimited tracks for FREE !  (Don’t we all love this word?) I think the Nokia people are really thoughtful when it comes to designing a stylish practical phone that puts their  consumers’ needs as top priority.

For instance, I’m carrying my N82 for phone usage+camera and my laptop for internet and transferring of files and my mp3 player for music. Now things are so much easier when you can just click , download music and play them directly on your phone. I thought the stripes concept for this campaign was quite simple (yays for the creative team i suppose) but straight to the point. Great Job ! The media buzz was definitely right at your face yet not too annoying.

NOKIA 5800 – Comes with Music from Ingrid on Vimeo.

The 5800 offers 8GB memory for up to 6,000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, yays to 3.5mm jack and built-in surround sound stereo speakers ! I really like the touchscreen which wasn’t too sensitive as compared to some of the touchscreen phones out there. The Nokia interface is almost idiot-proof, it is really user-friendly and the price is really attractive too ! Where else can you get a touchscreen phone with these functions AND unlimited FREE downloads of songs from Nokia Music Store ? I’m really tempted to replace my trusty N82 for this.   Though I would still prefer my 5megapixels camera phone to a 3.2

NOKIA 5800 – Hands On from Ingrid on Vimeo.

Back to the event, I was really surprised to see the All American Rejects !! Too bad they didn’t had a chance to play a song or two (but they had this Nokia Party after the launch).

It was a mad mad queue for the carpark party at night though ! People were already queuing at 5pm !

Nonetheless, it was really a pleasant surprise and woah, they were just steps away !

Nokia 5800 – The All American’s Rejects from Ingrid on Vimeo.

On a sidenote, met many bloggers for the first time too ! Great to meet every single one of you ! (Sorry I was looking so blur..lol)

Last but not least, Thank you Ser Hua, Daryl and Krisandro for the wonderful afternoon !

Looking forward to more events such as these !

Tags: blogger, comes with music, N82, nokia, Nokia 5800, nokia music store, smu campus radio, the all american rejects, the muttons, zouk