Vodacom and RIM Launch the BlackBerry Storm Smartphone in South Africa
Feel the power of the BlackBerry Storm smartphone – the World’s First touch-screen that “clicks”
Johannesburg, South Africa and Waterloo, ON – Vodacom South Africa and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the availability of the BlackBerry® Storm™ smartphone in the South African market. The BlackBerry Storm will be available from Vodacom on January 28.
Delivering the renowned functionality of the BlackBerry® solution, the BlackBerry Storm brings entertainment, information and communications to the tips of your fingers.
The stylish smartphone boasts exceptional performance, a stunning display and rich features including 3G (HSDPA) network support, integrated GPS, desktop-style web pages, advanced multimedia, a first class phone, camera and the industry’s most robust messaging capabilities – designed to give users an incredibly fast and powerful mobile experience.
“The BlackBerry Storm is a next-generation smartphone designed to meet the communication and multimedia needs of the most demanding customers. With its renowned communications capabilities, rich multimedia features and stylish design, the BlackBerry Storm allows customers to make the most of their time on the go with a fashionable and lifestyle-friendly smartphone,” says Shameel Joosub, Managing Director, Vodacom South Africa.
The BlackBerry Storm smartphone features the unique and innovative SurePress™ touch-screen, which depresses ever so slightly to aid in typing and navigation and to give users an experience they can actually feel. Through the revolutionary SurePress touch-screen, the virtual keyboard on the BlackBerry Storm responds like a physical keyboard and supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures for intuitive and efficient navigation as well as easy and precise typing.
“The “clickable” SurePress touch-screen is a remarkable innovation that dramatically enhances the touch interface and user experience. We are very pleased to introduce the first touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone together with Vodacom in South Africa,” said Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, RIM.
The BlackBerry Storm also features a built-in accelerometer, which automatically switches the display as the user rotates the handset for use in landscape or portrait. When in portrait mode, users can type out a quick instant message or dial a number using either RIM’s SureType® keyboard layout or a 12-key multi-tap keyboard. When the handset is rotated to landscape, the user is presented with a full QWERTY keyboard.
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