[john doe iii]

I'm a first time BB user, have been loyal to WINMO until now. My uncle, a engineer for RIM, who I never really called or spoke to since I never was a BB owner, just told me so very cool and interesting things coming out for the STORM.

1 feature he mentioned that caught my attention is an option to disable the "click screen" and just allow basic "touch screen". He admitted during Beta testing of the storm nobody was certain on how long the screen will last on heavy BB users.

and regarding the updates, we should see 1 once every 45 days or so until most of the common bugs are addressed.... then within the next 4 months or so, we should see a major OS upgrade.

The conversation was short as I was on my way in to work but ill discuss more with him tonight.

[ghosthound]

hmm... thats unnerving about the screen lasting.

[secretsexyninja]

cool sounds good. i would assume no one knows how long it will last as this is the first device of its kind. while its not a positive note i wouldnt necessarily say its a bad thing / there is some fatal flaw. only time will tell. if it does crap out, a lot of people will experience the crap out and im sure something will be done. not too worried cant wait to hear more

[BerryMedic20]

Very interesting perspective, and it sounds entirely credible. It should certainly be an option to disable the "click" aspect of the touchscreen and utilize touch-to-click. The update schedule also seems reasonable - although a "major OS upgrade" is truly what this phone needed prior to release.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[firemanjoe]

Hi all, just a newbie here....but I think the way some people use their BB's, they we will start to hear about it long before it may happen to most of us

[mark00020]

"Heavy" blackberry users will probably opt for a hardware keyboard. I know I have my 8703 for work (also, it has no camera)

[dms936]

outside the screen gap, the click's long term usability is something I am worried about. So much so I am thinking of increasing my insurance to the 5.99 w/extended warranty from 4.99 insurance

[timberdc]

I'm a first time BB user, have been loyal to WINMO until now. My uncle, a engineer for RIM, who I never really called or spoke to since I never was a BB owner, just told me so very cool and interesting things coming out for the STORM.

1 feature he mentioned that caught my attention is an option to disable the "click screen" and just allow basic "touch screen". He admitted during Beta testing of the storm nobody was certain on how long the screen will last on heavy BB users.

and regarding the updates, we should see 1 once every 45 days or so until most of the common bugs are addressed.... then within the next 4 months or so, we should see a major OS upgrade.

The conversation was short as I was on my way in to work but ill discuss more with him tonight.

How would you disable the click screen? Isn't that a hardware feature?

[john doe iii]

How would you disable the click screen? Isn't that a hardware feature?

pushing down on the screen technicaly would be a hardware feature... but as you notice before you click on letters and such, it highlights it right before you do it, so im sure some software would just select what ever you touch before you have to actualy press down on it.

[timberdc]

pushing down on the screen technicaly would be a hardware feature... but as you notice before you click on letters and such, it highlights it right before you do it, so im sure some software would just select what ever you touch before you have to actualy press down on it.

Okay, I can see that.

[cheerfuldave]

That's why we pay $6 a month for insurance!

[bigman2]

How would you disable the click screen? Isn't that a hardware feature?

I'm still waiting on my Storm, but from what I've read here, there are plenty of options about the Storm that don't involve a full click, just tapping the screen. If they're already doing it in some parts of the OS, why couldn't they do it in all parts of the OS?

While I think it would be a good idea to let users choose between the click screen and traditional touch screen operation, it would probably require a good amount of work on RIM's part to make it happen. So, if and when there's an OS 4.8 maybe then, but I doubt we'd see anything like it before then.

[juKe187]

nice post -- sounds promising, and milk your uncle for all he's worth!!!

[stormiscoming]

you know I was talking with a friend and he brought up the point that after a while would the suspension the screen is on snap?

and you know defending my purchase I said nah how could it they test these things and probaly pound the $hIt out of the test storms.

but that would worry me that after my warrenty and such is up that the screen suddenly doesnt work.

but disabling the click defeats the purpose of their entire angle of buying the storm over an iphone..

it sounds like they'll make better suspensions secretly in later models and release them as if they were the same as previous storms

than if your screen does break and your mad enough over it you'll call RIM and they will have you ship it to them and they'll either fix it or send you a new unit secretly, sounds like they're won't be a public recall

any thoughts? this is mere speculation

[S3th13]

nice post -- sounds promising, and milk your uncle for all he's worth!!!

Thats what I was thinking! Just don't mention any type of forums or website... he might become a little less informative when he realizes you're relaying all of this info to thousands of people. Also, one specific question: Ask him if the versions that they are currently working with are much higher and faster than the current leaked 0.75.

[avt123]

hmm... thats unnerving about the screen lasting.

Yea. So I guess this basically means the device wasn't designed for every type of BB user, just those who don't plan on typing too much? The again, this wasn't an official statement, just an Uncle.

[paul386]

I really like the click feature and I don't understand why others don't. Although I think it might be nice to disable the click for typing, but in other parts of the GUI I find it incrediably useful. I can't imagine a touch screen without it.

[stormiscoming]

I am a fan of the click,

but it would need to be disabled for games (thinking of how games work on the iphone)

honestly if they make the clicking a toggle (on/off capible) than a blackberry storm would be able to offer you the best of both worlds.

a storm and an iphone in one!

[dhendriksen]

I have already planned to go get my Storm warranty replaced for "spiratic problems" about 362 days from now. That way I will have a brand new one a couple of days before the warranty is up.

I type a lot, and frankly it is just matter of time before the screen suspension quits working. I realized that going in. The good news is that my average time owning a phone is about 10 months.

[knowALL]

that sounds awesome, once they changed it to soft click touch screen, it'll be smooth like the iPhones

[Sooks]

hmm i like the click but the option to turn it off will be nice too

[PeteyPete]

Any idea if Wifi will be added to later Storms?

[Ainvar]

Well I hope RIM used quality parts in regards to this device. I mean I never had an issue with a blackberry before specially since I typed a lot and the keys never wore out. But the screen uses one button to do all the clicking. I just hope it is some great quality part(s) they used in that area and they did not get all cheap a$$ on us.

[ghosthound]

Any idea if Wifi will be added to later Storms?

im pretty sure thats a hardware change so its not gonna happen... unless they release a storm 2.

[scougarb]

Very interesting perspective, and it sounds entirely credible. It should certainly be an option to disable the "click" aspect of the touchscreen and utilize touch-to-click.

I really don't see this happening. On the surface this seems like it would be simple to implement, but it's really not... They have designed the whole user interface around the click... not to mention that app developers would have to design their programs to work both ways (not possible for some apps)... they would be better off making 2 different devices... or just scrap the click alltogether on the next gen device.