Blackberry Storm Cell Phone Review - Organizer
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Marianne Schultz Published on December 08, 2008 Comment on this |
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| Organizer capabilities are another strong point in Blackberrys and the Storm doesn't disappoint in this area either. Managing multiple calendars is a snap, though we still wish for more useful calendar views. Notes and task management are also present and accounted for, but some additional customization and sorting options for these would be nice. | |
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Synchronization (8.33)
As a business-oriented device, the Storm is essentially bred to keep busy users organized and is easily capable of syncing with your computer. It comes with Blackberry desktop management software in the box for PCs, though Mac users are left out in the cold though a free, 3rd-party application is available, called PocketMac, that can easily be downloaded to enable direct syncing between the Storm and a Mac. Corporate users have the easiest path here since their company's IT function will often configure the Blackberry to sync its contacts, calendar, and notes automatically. The Storm is capable of syncing with Outlook and Windows PIM applications on PCs and with the Mac PIM apps with 3rd-party software both over USB and wirelessly via Bluetooth.
Alerts (7.0)
The Storm offers many alert options, which is true to form for Blackberrys. The alert settings in the Calendar application allows you to set the alert tone, volume, whether or not the LED is activates, vibration mode, and more just for that application alone. When an alert goes off, the screen lights up and the LED flashes. If you catch an alert, you can choose to open the calendar item, dismiss the alert without viewing the item, or snooze the alert for 5 minutes. If you miss an alert, the LED will continue to flash but the alert will not sound again, which is disappointing since it could be easy to miss an event if you just happened to miss the alert and the flashing LED. As with the Blackberry Curve 8320, we wish the Storm were more persistent in getting our attention for missed alerts.
Over-the-Air PIM Sync (4.0)
Users with Blackberry Enterprise Server syncing have over-the-air syncing of their contacts, calendar, notes, and tasks with their desktop PIM data. Over-the-air syncing is not available with the Blackberry Internet Service.
Adding Contacts (5.09)
To see how easy it is to add contacts, we time how long it takes to go from the home screen in the unlocked state to the moment a new test contact's name and phone number is entered and saved. On the Storm, we completed this test in landscape orientation to reveal the full virtual QWERTY keyboard since this resulted in the fastest name entry times. You should know that the Storm can be incredibly frustrating when it comes to name entry when using the SureType keyboard - even with the spelling suggestion turned off, it makes a best guess of the name you're trying to enter and it's an unusual name, you simply won't be able to enter it using the SureType keyboard and you'll need to use the QWERTY or multi-tap keyboard instead.
Creating a new contact
In this test, it took an average of 19.64 seconds to enter a new contact name and phone number. This is the slowest time relative to all of our comparison phones. Don't count on quick contact entry on the Storm. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Looking/Sorting/Search (7.50)
By default out of the box, the Storm sorts contacts alphabetically by first name, though this can be switched to sorting by last name or by company name. There is also a find box at the top of the contacts list and clicking on it brings up the keyboard so that you can search by typing the name or company of the contact you're trying to find. Scrolling through the list does not bring up any alphabet markers to move through long contact lists more quickly, as found on the iPhone 3G.
Searching through contacts
Groups can also be created and contacts can be added or removed from these groups as needed. Created groups show up in the contacts list as separate entries, marked with small business card icons, and viewing one shows all of the contacts assigned to that group. Filters can also be applied to further sort contacts though there are only 2 groups available by default, Business and Personal, and no more can be added.
A single contact
Fields (14.60)
When creating a new contact, there are 37 fields available to capture information, of which 4 can be renamed to custom names by the user. Additional pictures and email address fields can be added to through the menu options as well. Users who like to keep a lot of information about their contacts should be well pleased by the Storm's capabilities here.
Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (5.67)
Contacts can be assigned to speed dial on the virtual keypad through the View Speed Dial List option in the phone applications Menu, though you're limited to 8 spots only since the number 1 is automatically assigned to dial your voicemail box. Though voice tags cannot be added to contacts, the Storm also a voice command system, accessed through the left convenience key by default, to dial phone numbers and other functions. It does not require any training or set-up though its sensitivity and recognition can be fine-tuned through the Voice Dialing settings in the Options settings in the main menu. The Storm had no problem recognizing almost all our test contacts, only asking to confirm 1 name before completing the dial command.
Voice dialing activated
Adding Calendar Items (11.80)
To see how easy it is to add calendar events, we time how long it takes to save a new test appointment, starting from the home screen in the unlocked state. Our test event is a lunch appointment set for the next day at noon with a reminder alert set for 15 minutes before the start of the event. On the Storm, the quickest way to do this was to navigate to the desired day first, touch the desired time block, and then click the new event shortcut at the bottom of the screen. The Storm's default pre-event alert period is 15 minutes, so this required no additional adjustment. In this test, the Storm averaged 8.47 seconds, a good time that puts it behind only one of our comparison phones, the Blackberry Curve 8320, at 6.04 seconds.
A new calendar item
There is one significant annoyance if you try to select a different time slot in the new event dialogue - when you click on the start or end time to change it, you're presented with a larger view of the time with small arrows to adjust the hour, minutes, and AM/PM portions up or down. Pressing on these arrows obscures your view of the number you're trying to adjust, and the keyboard in any mode does not automatically switch to the number entry screen to facilitate this process at all. One wonders if the Blackberry software design engineers even tested this once with actual usability in mind. We think not. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Calendar Views (4.67)
The Storm has 4 calendar views - month, week, day, and agenda. The month view shows the least amount of useful information with only markers on days where events are scheduled. Tapping on a day with a scheduled event shows no additional information, unlike on the iPhone 3G where a scroll-able list of events for that day are shown below the view of the month.
The month view
The week view shows the most information about general availability, showing busy times as shaded in the color coded to the email associated with the calendar in which the event is scheduled. This color coding is quite handy to show work versus personal events, for example. When you tap on an event in this view, the event name, location, and time are shown at the top of the screen.
The week view
The day view is exactly what you'd expect and shows the most detail about upcoming events, including the name, location, and an icon to show if there are invitees or not.
The day view
The agenda view shows a list of all upcoming appointments by date, including the event name and location.
The agenda view
All in all, the Storm's calendar views aren't different or more functional than those found on other Blackberrys, enhanced only by the Storm's large, bright screen that has not appeared on previous Blackberry models.
Though you can't assign groups to calendar items, you can define the calendar to which they belong, and the menu allows you to choose to view calendars individually or all together at once.
Fields (11.0)
When creating a new calendar item, you are presented with 14 fields to set everything from the event's location to the calendar in which it should appear. An event can be marked as a conference call which then reveals additional fields o note the call's moderator, the conference call number and access code, and more. An event can be set to recur, though the only options are daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly - there's no way to set any custom intervals, despite what the Storm's User Guide states. The reminder alert can be set anywhere from 1 week prior to the start of the event to the moment the event starts. The last field is a Notes field where any text can be entered to suit your needs. Business users with full calendars should have no problem recording an abundance of detail for their appointments with the Storm.
Adding ToDo/Task (4.58)
To see how easy it is to enter a to do item, we time how long it takes to go from the home screen in the unlocked state to the moment a standard to do item is saved. The Storm's Tasks application is a bit buried in the menu system by default, though it can be moved if desired. The Storm took an average of 21.86 seconds to complete this test, which is the slowest time among all of our comparison phones that have tasks applications (the iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1 do not have these out of the box).
A new task
Entering a new task is a bit awkward in some places. For example, when setting a due date for a task, there are 2 fields to complete - the first is essentially an on/off flag to note that it has a due date. When this flag is switched on, the due date is automatically set for the following day, and to change this you must click on this field and painstakingly choose the date field by field. Unlike on the HTC Touch Diamond, there's no friendly pop-up calendar to facilitate this process. Another example has to do with the Category designation - there is a field for this in the New Task dialogue, but clicking on it does absolutely nothing and it can only be set by pressing the Menu button and selecting Categories from the menu and selecting on from there. Could that be any more unintuitive? (Answer: No.) For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
To Do/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (7.0)
Tasks can be sorted by subject, priority, due date, or status and they can also be filtered by category through a different menu option. This is good functionality to manage tasks that we expect from a business-oriented smartphone.
The task application's main view
Fields (7.0)
When creating a new task, there are 8 fields: task name, status, priority, due date, time zone, reminder alert, category, and a notes field. What's missing is the option to designate a task as recurring, which is an odd omission considering that it was present on the Blackberry Curve 8320.
Adding Notes (2.61)
To see how easy it is to generate notes, we time how long it takes to go from the home screen in the unlocked state to the moment a standard test note is created and save. As with the Tasks application, the Memo application is a bit buried in the menu system by default.
A new memo
The Storm did not do well here, posting the slowest time out of all of our comparison phones that come with notes applications out of the box with an average time of 19.19 seconds. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Note Interface (7.50)
The Memo application's interface is pretty straightforward, showing a list of notes sorted with the most recently created or edited ones at the top, and this sort order cannot be changed. Memos can be assigned to a category in the same unintuitive way that Tasks can, and the list can be filtered by category. There is a search box at the top to help you find that one elusive note among many. The Notes interface is fairly basic and less than what we expect in a smartphone.
The Memo application's main view
Note Formatting (0.0)
There are no formatting options to change the look of memos on the Storm.
Voice Memo (7.0)
The Storm's Voice Note application is very straightforward. Once opened, the only on-screen button activates recording and turns into a pause button after recording has started.
The voice memo application's main screen
Once a note has been recorded, additional buttons show up at the bottom as shortcuts to send the voice memo as an attachment in an email or MMS, rename the file, or delete it. Pressing the Menu button shows an option where you can see all saved voice notes and choose to play them, search through them, and more.
Saved voice notes
The presence of this application and its functionality are definitely an improvement over the Blackberry Curve 8320 where voice notes could only be recorded for the purpose of sending them in MMS messages. The only thing that's missing by default is one-touch recording, though one of the convenience keys could be re-mapped to go directly to this application.
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