Can the new BlackBerrys beat the iPhone?

With the recent releases of flash new BlackBerrys, Research In Motion has fired back at Apple in the Great Smart Phone Skirmish of 2008.

The introduction of the touch-screen BlackBerry Storm and business-savvy Bold 9000 may not have come a moment too soon for RIM, which has long dominated the market for high-end cell phones that double as email devices. Consider that Apple reported selling 6.9 million iPhone 3Gs during its last quarter, while RIM sold 6.1 million BlackBerrys in roughly the same period.

But while RIM's latest offerings are packed with features like stereo Bluetooth, standard headphone jacks, video recording, multiple email options and, in the case of the Storm, a unique touch screen, the multifront attack may not be enough to unseat the mighty iPhone.

BlackBerry Storm

The much-anticipated Storm - RIM's first touch-screen smart phone - has slick looks and tons of features. But while the device gets some things right, a number of issues make it difficult to use. The Storm is similar in size to larger BlackBerry models but eschews the standard QWERTY keyboard for a high-resolution 8.25-centimetre touch screen that covers most of its face. It's available from Vodafone in the UK, for £35 a month with 600 minutes talk time and unlimited texts, emails and internet.

The screen smartly marries the tactile feedback you'd get from a physical keyboard or mouse button with the finger-swiping convenience of a touch screen. So you can scroll around with your finger but nothing should happen - no words typed, no links clicked - until you physically push on the screen.

I found it much easier to type messages with the Storm's keyboard than with the iPhone's. This could make a big difference to business users who have been lusting after touch-screen smart phones but hesitant to make the switch. Sometimes, though, I had a hard time clicking on icons I wanted: At times, the browser would zoom in on the icon rather than activating it. Or I'd end up clicking an adjacent link.

High-definition videos I had taken on a camcorder looked pretty good on the Storm, and its big screen is great for showing large photos, or album art when you're listening to songs. There's plenty of storage for your multimedia goodies, as the device includes 1 gigabyte of memory and an 8 gigabyte microSD card.

One neat feature is the Storm's ability to take videos in two different resolutions, the lower of which is meant for sending clips in messages. You can also take still photos with the Storm's 3.2 megapixel camera.

I dug the visual voice mail feature - something also available on the iPhone - that shows you a list of your voice messages and lets you hear them in any order you'd like.

And calls sounded pretty good on the Storm, which is rated for 5.5 hours of talk time.

But the Storm seemed to labour at processing requests if I tried to do too many things too quickly, such as scrolling through photos while listening to music. And while the screen should easily change from portrait to landscape mode when you turn the Storm on its side, I often found it quite slow to react.

The Storm includes GPS. But its lack of Wi-Fi capabilities means you can't get online in the absence of Verizon's data network.

BlackBerry Bold 9000

With its full Qwerty keyboard, crystal-clear 7-centimetre screen and bevy of wireless options, the Bold is well suited for business and extracurricular pursuits.

The device runs on Vodafone's 3G network and can use Wi-Fi, which made it easy to check email and stream videos. Calls came in nice and clear, and the phone is rated for 4.5 hours of talking time.

Like the Storm, the Bold has GPS capabilities. It includes an application that can give driving directions.

Typing messages with the keyboard was super simple - the keys are not too small and right away I felt comfortable enough that I wasn't continually fixated on what buttons my fingers were pressing.

Though I yearned for a touch screen, navigating the device with the traditional BlackBerry trackball was straightforward and quick. Unlike with the Storm, I rarely noticed a slowdown in completing operations on the Bold.

The screen, which sports the same resolution as the one on the BlackBerry Storm, is great for surfing the web and watching videos. The Bold also comes with an application that lets you stream news videos and, if you don't mind watching them in segments, episodes of shows like "The Office" and "Ugly Betty."

There's a 2-megapixel camera included that takes fair photos, and, as with the other new BlackBerrys, you can take videos on the Bold and listen to your music on it, too.

But if you want to store lots of your own media on the device, you'll need to get a memory card for its microSD slot - the handset only includes 1 gigabyte of built-in memory.