Given that the original BlackBerry Storm 9500 & 9530 was a miserable disaster for many, the Storm 2 will of course have a hard time making it up top, especially when it carries the same name. So what were the huge issues faced in the original Storm? Just as a quick recap, we can all remember the excessive freezes with the device which always lead to a hard battery pull and caused people many dilemmas such as not receiving phone calls because the Storm was “hourglassing” in their holsters or pockets without usage even. We came across a list of five ways that the BlackBerry Storm 2 is better from PCWorld which could come very useful to all of you, especially if you’re feeling shaky about the new device.

1) A vastly improved touchscreen: Let’s just say it: the first Storm’s touch screen was weird. When it came out, people couldn’t stop talking about its odd clicking touch screen that provided haptic feedback. It was like pushing down on a physical button, and yet it wasn’t. Not compared to a keyboard, anyway. The Storm2’s screen has a lot of similarities to the original, but now RIM has placed four electrical actuators under the screen (one for each corner). This makes the screen more responsive and better for typing.2) A lot less bugs: When the first BlackBerry Storm was released last November, the unit was buggy as heck. We ran into many problems during testing, and users complained that the software felt incomplete. Six months after the release, RIM and Verizon fixed most of the bugs with a massive software update. Fortunately, the Storm2 shouldn’t have this problem, and the subsequent bad buzz because most of the kinks have already been worked out. (There are still a few bugs, mind you, but nothing drastic.)

3) Multi-touch: Since the iPhone 3GS is now the standard all touch-screen smartphones live up to, the addition of multi-touch to the Storm2 is important. It’s not full multi-touch, but it’s a good start. For example, you can copy and paste text by holding two fingers on both ends.

4) Wi-Fi: While Verizon’s 3G network is pretty peppy and far-reaching, people complained when the first Storm didn’t have Wi-Fi while the BlackBerry Bold did. Most major devices these days add Wi-Fi to be taken more seriously as a computing platform, so it’s good to see it on the Storm2.

5) Bottom-edge speakerphone: The original Storm had its speakerphone molded into its aluminum back panel. This was an unfortunate design problem; if you wanted to do anything on the touch screen while on speakerphone, well, too bad. The Storm2’s speakerphone is on the bottom edge of the phone, allowing users to talk on the phone while using the touch screen.

Source: PCWorld