Verizon Updates BlackBerry StormVerizon Updates BlackBerry Storm

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BlackBerry Storm

Verizon Wireless is pushing out a software update for the BlackBerry Storm that improves the touch-screen smartphone and fixes a host of bugs.

The update, which is known as 4.7.0.148, is available now under the "Wireless Updates" option, or users can download it from Research In Motion's update page. The firmware update has been floating around on Internet forums for a few weeks, but the official version should find a wider audience.

When the Storm was released last November, it was viewed as a strong alternative to Apple's iPhone 3G. The handset sold more than a million units in about four months, but the initial buggy software and the SurePress typing method led to mixed reviews.

The latest firmware update fixes many of the software issues that plagued the Storm at launch, and it adds an overall layer of polish to the device. For example, the handset switches from portrait to landscape mode faster, the camera launches and snaps pictures quicker, and the Web browser has improved.

While the update leads to a smoother overall experience, Storm owners may be a bit envious that the new firmware does not add major new features. By contrast, Apple's upcoming 3.0 software will add major new abilities to the iPhone, including peer-to-peer networking, push notification, and turn-by-turn directions.

The 3.0 software may not be a fair comparison because the iPhone has been out for nearly three years, but the Google-backed Android operating system has been available for a comparable time and is seeing a major firmware update. The recently released Android 1.5, or "Cupcake," added home-screen widgets, improved Web browsing, video recording, a software keyboard, a native YouTube uploader, and more features.

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