Over the last couple of days the blogosphere has filled up with release date rumors for both the BlackBerry Storm2 and the BlackBerry Bold 9700. It's becoming pretty clear that both of these devices are going to be announced and released in the weeks ahead. The October 21st date has been pretty popular, and the image above lends to that one for the BlackBerry Storm 9550. This blog post capture sent in by a tipster is said to come from Verizon's intranet, and points to an October 21st Launch Date. Note the post was written back on the 28th of September so isn't totally current. I'm not sure if Verizon uses the "launch date" term to mean available in store to purchase or simply that the device is announced and available soon after.
Storm 2 Branding: It's pretty interesting to see how Verizon seems to be adopting the "Storm2 or Storm 2" name convention. Over the past many months, I heard from a LOT of people that it wouldn't be the "Storm 2" but just the 9550/9520. But so far these recent Verizon Storm 9550 leaks are showing a lot of Storm2 references (Vodafone stuff I have seen so far seems to be showing just Storm 9500 / Storm 9520). I've seen Storm2 with no space and Storm 2 with a space. I'll be curious to see the final branding/box/etc.. What do you think.. should it be the Storm2 9550 or just the Storm 9550?
Reader comments
VZW Blog Post Points Out Some Storm2 Goodies
WHAT ABOUT A FULL SCREEN CALLER ID?????? wi-fi and all of these other improvements is all well and good but what about a full screen caller id feature that I don't have to buy a stupid app to get???????????????????????????????
I think this will be the time for all the whiners and complainers (I know, you probably have some legit complaints/problems) of the Storm 1, to man up and stop throwing money away every month on a device that doesn't work for you. You would have already had enough money to buy a Storm 2. I will most likely be getting one from work, but if I was like others who had problems, I would ditch it in a heartbeat.
Personally, I could care less what they call it. I just hope that we won't all be calling it by the code name "Blackberry P.O.S. 2" as much as the blackberry lover in me wants to have faith in this new model, the "P.O.S. 1" really let me down. I will not make the same mistake twice. I think I'm gonna wait a good year or even more so that I can watch the progress with this one before I even consider spending my money on it. RIM really needs to step their touchscreen game up to compete with what is out there these days, I love touchscreen phones and that's they only kind I use. If I can't have a really good touchscreen blackberry, then I'm afraid i'm gonna have to make the dreaded switch to a different phone;-(
Well I love my BB and all you Haters can go get something else. so on another note. STORM 2 sounds like a good fit..and I'm soooooooooooo Excited to get it...WHOOT
I think Verizon should give original storm owners free upgrades or at least a huge discount. I think it's about 90% of storm owners are unhappy with the storm now. Are you kidding me that Verizon only put out two OS updates and even the most recent update is garbage. Come on Verizon make us happy.
I think Verizon should give original storm owners free upgrades or at least a huge discount. I think it's about 90% of storm owners are unhappy with the storm now. Are you kidding me that Verizon only put out two OS updates and even the most recent update is garbage. Come on Verizon make us happy.
What short memories you all have.
One short year ago most here would have sold their first born just to get their hands on the STORM.
What's the difference what they call it as long as it works?
What a joy to have to pull the battery at least once a day. And, the speed, camera, colors, and dozens of other issues have driven us crazy. Now the hype begins again?
WHY?
This time around, no lines in the cold for me. Verizon should pay us to trade that baby in. All that matters to them is air time.
$299.00 reduced to $49.99, and you can have 2 if you like. Now that's a recession we can all relate to.
Good luck poker fans.
yes
regardless of what they call it, it is the "Storm 2" i.e. 2nd generation storm...
as a recent/former VZW employee, i can tell you that "launch date" for VZW means "goes on sale to the public" it is the day you can buy it.
its a lot that i love about the storm, like that awsome size screen, but i think i may go tour on my next phone. but, i'm hoping i can talk my daughter into the storm 2 being her next phone. then i can at least get some play time on it, we'll see.
Hey I just tried the HTC Imagio because that is the phone verizon is boosting up right now and I gotta say I went back and forth back and forth comparing the storm 1 to this phone and even the storm 1 had this phone beat. The only thing that came out different was the youtube videos but on the good note event the storm 1 was better so storm 2 would be best suited and I hope you blow the competition away. This may not have alot to do with this discussion but I thought it needed to be addressed because alot of non bb users dont give this phone the props it deserves but here is some proof so thanks
I'm hearing 10/14/09 via this post
http://community.vzw.com/t5/BlackBerry-Devices/BLACKBERRY-STORM-2-RELEAS...
Like I mentioned before, RIM should just rename it entirely. (i.e. Blackberry Thunder, or Blackberry Lightning") New name = new product. I have never owned the original Storm, but I have tested one out, and it did seem sluggish here and there. This is what I think needs to happen for this product to be successful in a huge way.
1. Rename the device entirely and drop the whole "Storm 2" from it altogether (See above)
2. Upon launch, give the original Storm 1 owners the "upgrade price" plus waiving activation fee, instead of charging the full retail price.
3. New customer price should be $99 - $149.99 with new 2 year contract. (1 year contract = $249.99)
Just my 2 cents.
A new name would be nice. Becuase what I see happening is the original storm will be going away and not sold anymore. They might continue to sell them at a much reduced rate until stock runs out but then it will be gone. And guess what, people will then refer to the Storm 2 as the Storm as it will be the only storm available so the 2 will be dropped.
YES!!! it is finaly going to come out!!! YEAH!!! lol and i think it will be names the storm 9550 ;P
hmmm
I think the 9550 should be completely re-branded. As much as I loved my Storm for the time I had it, there were quite a lot of people who weren't happy and thought it was a piece. Giving it a new codename and releasing it as Blackberry's "latest touchscreen" might be a smart marketing ploy for Big Red.
i agree. my boss had the original and he hated it. i keep telling him about the 9550 and he just shrugs me off. renaming would do a lot for public interest i think.
OK follow me on this:
Microsoft released Xbox 360 to follow the original Xbox. They knew the PS3 would come one day, and naming it the Xbox 2 would have put them "behind" Sony in the console war by name alone. That's all that matters, right? Could Storm 2 possibly be better than iPhone 3GS? No way, because 2 is less than 3 and they didn't add ANY impressive letters to indicate speed. btw, the T stands for TURBO!!!
I seriously gotta check this out upon release.
2GB of on board memory!
16GB of pre-installed memory
Newer! Better!! Faster!!!
Plus, it's a BB!
It was showing up as storm2 for the emulator while it was available.
I really like the storm2 name. It would be dumb to call it anything else; space or no space... doesnt matter.
18 gb of memory standard. very nice.
Im ready for the release, come on! lol even tho' my upgrade isnt here yet, but w/e dont care. Oh yea keep it as Storm 2 or Storm2 w/e haha.
I bet it will be Storm2, the suits probably think that's much more "hip".
Although I will say I can't prove it, I will stand by my comments before that 90% of the "defective" storm 1s were that of either operator error or misuse... I liked Storm 1 very much and look forward to Storm 2.... In November...
There's no coming back from the Storm fiasco. I'd never consider the purchase of another RIM product. I'll probably get one of the two Android phones and send the Storm out for a flying lesson.
Fool me once ...
thats funny , you hate blackberries, but just so happen to land on the crackberry web sight... just passing by? cause you wouldnt catch me on the iphone sight nore google.
i think it should be called the storm2 because it is kinda not grouped together with the other models of blackberry anyway. being a touch screen and all it is usually compared to the iphone and since this "new generation" of the storm is so different from the first i think it would be better to really and simply differentiate between the two.
as for talk about owners of the original storm being able to upgrade to the new storm even if they are not eligible for their New Every Two- i agree whole heatedly. it's the LEAST vzw could do. i get sick when i think of all the time i wasted just trying to get my phone to function.
Think about it..theres no Bold 2, Pearl 2, Curve 2...they all just have new model numbers....the ONLY reason I can think of why it would be launched as Storm 2 is because Storm 1 has such a bad reputation...
They shoulda changed the name altogether, something close to the "Storm", they shoulda called this one the Thunder. Either way though, I'm getting it, not at launch though, probably the first of the year, when all the reviews come out. Too bad this won't be available for AT&T, I was happy here, but oh well.
I vote for Storm2 -- it's more "exciting" than simply calling it Storm 2. I like names better than numbers.
I'm getting it! No doubt. I'm ready.
I'd be happy with a fixed Storm 1.
the storm is fixed, download 5.0.0.230, i think verizon is holding off on this update cause it would stop alot of people of feeling the need of upgrading.
this os has my phone damn near flawless
According to the training I had to take today, it will be known as the Storm 2. and come with 2 gig internal and a 16 gig memory card.
I tried looking for that exact page on Verizon Wireless's site but nothing comes close. Couldn't even find that article. Is that a site just for Verizon employees? If not, could someone post the link. I wanna check out the entire article, not just a picture posted here on crackberry.
Cablelayer...thanks for starting that poll. Can you post the link to it?
http://forums.crackberry.com/f139/should-verizon-offer-current-storm-own...
It should be called the Storm 9550
NDonline, I started a poll in the owners lounge. Let's see what happens.
Great idea on the rumor....make it happen Kevin!!!
+ 1.
If someone can make it happen it's definitely Kevin.
Take those 8000 bbm contact to make some pressure on Rim.
They won't listen to me but Rim will listen to you... lol.
Happydance, happydance, happydance...........
I am happy. My NE2 is up on OCT 22nd.
Happydance, happydance, happydance........
Does anyone know if those of us who purchased the Storm 1 when it first came out will be able to upgrade early to the Storm 2 at the subsidized price? I would love to get it but don't want to pay full retail
Maybe we can rally and start an online rumor that will grow so big that it will force Verizon to give existing Storm owners a discount on upgrading to the new Storm.
Let's see if we can get Kevin to start a new blog topic that says "Verizon to offer Current Storm Owners a Discount on Storm 2! (Rumor)"
I think that if you have a plan that is 59.99 and up you can qualify for an annual renewal but that means just your minute plan alone, not the entire bill at the end of the month.
Personally I'm a few months away from getting an upgrade and am thinking that if they don't let me upgrade for the subsidized price because I absolutely can't stand this phone anymore....then I am going to buy out of contract, which at this point wouldn't be a whole lot, and get the new Bold.
If you want to get a Storm2 as it releases and you aren't eligible for any upgrade because you bought yours November of last year, think outside the box. I have parents that never use upgrades on the same account as me and I use theirs up all the time. Verizon calls it an "alternate upgrade". If your account has a line that is eligible for renewal, they don't care if you use it for your line. They still get a contract renewal out of it anyways. Just make sure that you are authorized to make contract changes to the account to be prepared before you go to the store or they aren't even going to talk about the account with you. If it is also on a VIP account and its the primary line that you are renewing for the "annual upgrade", then if you ask for the VIP discount you may get an additional 50.00 off the 2 year contract price. Now don't quote me on that one because I hear that the program is going away so if you can, take advantage of it soon before it disappears. Another thing to clear up is if you will be eligible for the early upgrade. What was stated before is that you have to be on a 59.99+ calling plan and that is correct. An important note on that is that you have to have that plan active for at least 3 months before it qualifies and had your last discount on a phone for whatever line you are upgrading at least one year ago.
e.g. bought a phone at a discount price 12+ months ago on a 2 yr price, calling plan alone is 59.99+ (not calling plan and features) for at least 3+ months = you are getting an annual upgrade offer.
And again, if you aren't ready for an upgrade, you probably know someone who is, ask them to use theirs and if they are on your same account, it couldn't be easier.
Why do people keep asking questions like this? Why would a cell phone company give you the lower price on the new model of a phone just because you purchased the previous model when it came out? Do car dealers give you a subsidized price when you buy a car and they come out with a new model next year with better features?? Would you do that if you owned a company? If so I guess we wouldn't have to worry about you being in business very long huh.
If they want to keep me as a customer -- they better offer something to us early adopters. While the original Storm is a serviceable phone now, we've basically have been beta testers for this model (Storm2) of the device.
But hey, if they don't want to offer any upgrade incentives at (or near) launch, in 13 months, I can walk away from Blackberry/Verizon to find a better deal myself.
Customer service and commitment works both ways. If you try to take care of me, I'll be more loyal to you. Heck, I stuck with Sprint for 10 years before coming over to Verizon. My initial impression with the company is so so, and my impression of the Storm is so so. Right now, I'm ambivalent towards the relationship. Doing something for the original Storm owners would show me they're interested in me for the long haul, and not just for the initial contract period.
i'm getting a little tired of reading posts like this as well. where are you gonna go if you leave verizon? sprint? at&t? lol good luck with that. If you leave blackberry and do not go to the iphone, you will just be downgrading, and the iphone is coming to verizon eventually (hopefully next summer). you hear iphone owners complaining all the time (mostly about the service provider), but one thing you don't hear from them is, "do we get a discount on the new model?" why not? because that's retarded. sure, it'd be nice. but its never gonna happen. you bought your phone when? over a year ago? hmm, do you think apple will let me upgrade my imac that i bought two years ago when the new models just came out to the new thinner, more powerful ones that are coming out later this season? no, of course not. technology evolves every day. things like this happen all the time. you get a new product, and then, a year later or so, a better one comes out lol. i'm sorry the storm didn't work out for you all, but give it a rest already.
Actually, AT&T and Apple have done this exact thing twice with the iPhone. First when they dropped the price of the original model, and secondly when they released the GS. The first time they gave a rebate, the second they allowed the folks to upgrade three months early.
Do you even own a Storm? I doubt it, because if you did -- you would understand why so many of us owners feel they way we do.
acually mac gave the rebate for the 1st iphone owners and at&t barely did anything...so if you have issues getting the second storm take it up with RIM verizon just supply's the service to the phone..and good luck getting better service that verizon on a phone...especially with AT&T!! they half to keeps customers some how so they allowed acouple of month early upgrade cause their service stinks and have no other way to back up their customers other than kissing their @$$..maybe if they will quiet letting customers run them over with free upgrades all the time they could afford to get better service for their customers!
Verizon is running a business not a charity!!!! Technology comes and goes all the time..we all know when a company tries something new it doesn't work real well at first. So user error on your part for jumping right in on the first storm right when it hit the shelf!
I kinda wish they'd completely change it since it will be such a different phone experience, but since that is highly unlikely I guess Storm 2 is probably better than Storm 9550 just so everyday consumers who do not follow model numbers (but may have heard the bad press around the original Storm) will know instantly that this is a new phone.
Sorry if has been explained, but what is the difference between the 2 gb embedded and the 256 mb of flash memory?
Flash memory is what the phone uses to store running applications while your phone is on (much like your computer uses RAM) That's why your phone slows down when you have a lot of applications open. When you reboot your phone, it clears the flash memory.
Embedded memory is the physical memory used to store all information (much like a hard drive in a computer).
The 16GB SD card would be the equivalent of plugging an external hard drive into your computer....just to take the analogy one step further.
And what would be really cool is if you could download apps and run them from the SD card. Something other phones have the capability to do, but not blackberrys. Don't get me wrong love my blackberry but wish we had that option.
I'm guessing it's Storm2 because it is a distinctive Web search keyword. This way, anyone who searches for Storm2 will not have to sift through thousands of results about the old Storm.
It's Storm2 no space...the training video for VZW reps even show it in the same Blackberry typeset.
That's the launch date. So does that mean OS 5.0 will be out within the next week or so for us old storm users. It should be IMO
old curve user...interested in storm but did way too much homework on it (talked me out of it easily)
tour then...great resolution, amazing keyboard (but still with its issues)
i know the storm2/storm 2 is not going to be the end all phone period, but i am thinking that the extra time in the "oven" has made the touch sreen way more responsive...and who can deny the lovely screen!
waiting waiting waiting to activate my next line to get this phone!
release date please...this always happens with BB and VZW...no news but small trickles of info...then more and more as time goes on....and right before the release date....BAM
I'm glad to see wi-fi explicitly called out, because my Verizon rep had said it wouldn't be there. I guess that's why he's still just a Verizon rep. :-P
Doubling the on-board RAM and the size of the microSD card are nice touches.
I just hope I'm allowed to remove all the V CAST crap...
storm squared lol
I may pick this up. I won't go on launch day. I want to see if there are any problems.
Yeah good idea, avoid launch day. Unless Verizon learned from it's mistakes when the original storm was released (and somehow I doubt it). The computers got so inundated that people were there for hours just to complete the information in the computer to get the phone. Or like me, they reserved them and we had to go in the next day to pick it up. They did this becuase they knew they could not process the orders that day due to the computer issues. I might get the storm 2, but not on launch day.
16gb card preinstalled. Nice.
I sure hope they take care of people who purchased (day 1 even) and stuck w/ the Storm 1. That's probably too much to ask.
Probably not gonna happen. That's like Sony giving PSP 3000 owners a credit to by the PSP Go. SHOULD happen, but never did.
true true. but the PSP didn't have nearly as many problems as the storm did when it was released. the storm had more problems with it than a cell phone should have
What happened to Odin?
"Odin" was more or less the Prototype name, which rarely carries over to production models. If I remember correctly, the Tour was code-named "Niagara" prior to release, for example. I think Storm was even dubbed "Thunder" at one point.
I'm guessing Storm 2 (or Storm2). The original Storm was possibly the most marketed Blackberry model to date--so more people know the name "Storm" than let's say "Curve" or "Bold" or "Pearl" as it refers to a specific model. In other words, most other BB models could easily be identified under the generic moniker "Blackberry", whereas the Storm is more often referred to as a "Blackberry Storm". I would think it is going to be very important for RIM and carriers to differentiate this model from the original, and therefore I'd predict to see it marketed as the "Storm 2".
It should be just "Storm 2" with the space. No one calls the Storm the "Storm 9530" so this one shouldn't be called the "Storm 2 9550." As for me, I'll be in line on day one!
Or Storm² but still call it the "Storm 2" (Stormed squared if you can't see that.)
"Storm 2" sounds cheap. 9550 sounds proper.
I agree. It should be marketed as the "Storm 2" with a space but without the device number. I'll call it the Storm, but it's good to note the 2 so people realize it's a new device they should revisit or check out if they were scared off by the poor reviews of the buggy OS on the original Storm. I'm very excited ... I just wish it were coming to AT&T. If not, then I guess I'll move back to Verizon and take all my lines with me. Too bad really, as I was happy on AT&T, but the ONE phone I want is the ONE phone they refuse to get ... odd since the only reason I left Verizon was because they always had crappy phones, LOL.
It won't be officially known as Storm 2 only but that is what people will call it. Same goes for the Bold 9700... People will most likely call it the Bold 2 or the Onyx.
I call my phone the Bold only, I don't call it the Bold 9000.
And everyone just says Tour and not Tour 9630. Prototype names come and go, but once a device is so widely known as something only to be changed within a few months before release people will not pick up on it.
it is near.....next thing you know, it will be launched! so excited!!!