I just got back from the Verizon store, where I tried out all the features of the brand-spankin’ new Blackberry Storm smartphone.  While it has some features that are noteworthy, on the whole it does not stand up to the features of the iPhone and Google’s G1.  I compared the G1 to the iPhone in my last article, so let’s now see how those two stack up against this new Blackberry!

1. Keypad
   The clickable keypad on the Storm has many advantages over the iPhone, but it is a close second to the G1′s tactile keypad.  The iPhone’s keypad pretty much sucks, particularly when you are trying to send a text message and the keypad doesn’t turn when you turn the phone sideways.
   Advantage: tie between G1 and Storm
2. Touchscreen
   The “clickable” screen on the Storm is pretty darn cool.  Unfortunately, the Storm’s touchscreen isn’t very responsive to finger touches.  I consistently found that I could not select menu items on the first try.  Both the iPhone and G1 feature VERY responsive touchscreens.  So, ideally, the iPhone and G1 would adopt a “clickable” screen.  Nonetheless, they hold a lead over the Storm.
   Advantage: tie between G1 and iPhone
3. Speed
   It seems like the Storm has the slowest response time of the three phones being compared here.  That is, the time between when you click on a button until something happens seems to be longest on the Storm.  This is consistent whether you are trying to switch applications, browse the web, or choose a song from the mp3 player.  Both the iPhone and G1 are pretty quick.
   Advantage: tie between G1 and iPhone
4. Applications (software)
   The Storm comes pre-installed Facebook and Flickr applications as well as basic versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.  Unfortunately, you need to pay money to upgrade the Microsoft products if you want to create new documents.  The iPhone comes with email, calendar, Google Maps.  The G1 comes pre-installed with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Maps (with compass).  There is a wealth of free software available for the G1, a bunch of free and expensive software for the iPhone, and some expensive software for the Storm.  The G1′s open-source Android operating software makes software development easy and open.  Apple’s software store is a bit restrictive, making it less attractive.  That said, Apple’s restrictions and limitations make for a higher-quality product.
   Advantage: G1
5. Quality
   The iPhone and Storm are heads-above the G1 in terms of physical build quality.  The G1 seems to be made out of cheap plastic, whereas both the iPhone and Storm seem to be made of a higher-quality material.
   Advantage: tie between Storm and iPhone
6. Ease of Use
   It’s difficult to find many faults with the iPhone’s intuitive touch-screen operating system.  Both the G1 and Storm offer second-tier imitations.
   Advantage: iPhone
7. SMS and MMS
   Storm outperforms both the G1 and iPhone in terms of sending images via text-message.  Neither of the other phones allow you to do this.  That said, the iPhone’s text-messaging interface is the most intuitive of the three.
   Advantage: Storm
8. Recommendation
   It is clear that each phone has its advantages.  Also, each service has advantages.  For example, T-Mobile’s monthly costs are FAR cheaper than AT&T and Verizons for standard voice/data/text plans.  This is probably the biggest hang-up for me as I think about purchasing one of these phones.  Most of the people I call are Verizon customers.  T-Mobile’s “Pick 5″ would suit me well.  AT&T’s monthly costs would greatly exceed the other two for me if I were to count voice calls.  That said, if most of the people you call are already AT&T customers, then the iPhone would deserve serious consideration.  Ignoring the voice plans, the iPhone offers the best user experience.  It is elegant, easy-to-use, and has a wealth of software (free and expensive) available for download from the  iTunes store.  I am anxiously awaiting the release of the next Google Phone and Storm.  They will surely be WAY better than the first generation versions in terms of build and ease-of-use.  For now, I recommend the iPhone.

I spent 6 hours at the BIG Mall yesterday trying every cell phone and PDA in the place.  I tried the iPhone, G1, and all sorts of other smartphones and PDAs from Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T.  None of them do what I need them to do.  Here’s what I need my cell phone to do:

• Text messaging
• Twitter
• Photo capture
• Ability to email photos
• Video capture
• Ability to upload video to Youtube
• WordPress image upload
• WordPress video embed (Youtube)
• Skype
• mp3 player

The main area where ALL the phones fail is in video capturing and uploading.  My 3-year-old Motorola cell phone has video, photo, and audio capture features.  The iPhone and G1 can only capture photos out of the box.  Why these two phones do not have video capture capabilities is beyond me.  The video image is already streaming digitally through the phone when you use the photo capture feature, why not capture 15-30 frames per second of video and encode it to MPEG?  Is it that tough?  How can my crappy 3-year-old cell phone out-perform both of these fancy, new devices?

The iPhone and the G1 operating systems are WAY more intuitive than the others.  Windows, Palm, and Blackberry operating systems were confusing and seemed chintzy, cheap, and slow.  The Windows OS, in particular, was particularly confusing. Both the iPhone and G1 provide simple touch-screen interfaces where you just touch the icon for “web browser” to search the web.  With the other operating systems, you need a working knowledge of all the buttons as well as some training to figure it out.  Even after being showed how to access the web on non-iPhone and G1 phones by the salesman at both the Verizon and T-Mobile stores, I was confused about how to access the web!  Some could blame me for a lack of knowledge or understanding of the respective operating systems, but I call it bad design.

The iPhone is nicer than all of the other phones I tried.  It feels solid and sturdy compared to the G1, which has a cheap plastic feel to it.  It also is the simplest phone, with only one tactile button.

The G1 tops the iPhone with its tactile keypad.  It is quite difficult and time consuming to type a message free of spelling errors on the iPhone, as my big fingers always press the wrong letters on the screen.  I end up having to use the delete key a lot.  The G1′s keypad is awesome.  Writing text messages and blog entries will be significantly easier with the G1.

On price, the G1 wins, hands-down.  At $70 per month, the iPhone rivals data/voice plans provided by Verizon and AT&T.  But T-Mobile’s offers sufficient voice and unlimited 3G data access for only $50 per month!  That’s a $240 savings every year (almost $500 over the course of your 2-year contract).

Here’s where I stand at present.  I have had a voice-only plan for the last 7 years with Verizon.  I have been happy with their voice coverage.  The only reason I am looking to upgrade my phone and plan is that I have become very interested in text messaging, live-blogging, and Twittering in real-time.  I am still debating whether or not it’s worth the $30-60 more per month to get this functionality in a phone. Any guidance or experience that you can provide with either of these two phones would be much appreciated!

Here’s a video showcasing and critiquing the features of the G1:

And here’s a Youtube video showcasing the differences between the iPhone and the new Blackberry:

And here’s a video showcasing the new features of the WordPress iPhone App (version 1.2):