BlackBerry Storm 9530 Unlocked GSM + CDMA

The BlackBerry Storm is a touchscreen smartphone developed by Research In Motion (RIM). A part of the BlackBerry 9500 series of phones,^[5] it is RIM's first touchscreen device, and its first without a physical keyboard. It features a touchscreen which reacts physically like a button via SurePress, a Research In Motion patented technology of providing haptic feedback. It is intended to be a direct competitor to Apple iPhone 3G, the Palm Pre, the T-Mobile G1 by HTC^[6] and the HTC Touch family.
The Storm has received mixed reviews from critics, with some finding the Storm's touchscreen difficult to use or discovering bugs and glitches with the phone's software, but some have praised the Storm for its call quality and its business-oriented features.

Availability by country	November 14, 2008 (U.K.)                 November 21, 2008 (U.S.) December 4, 2008 (Australia) December 11, 2008 (Canada)
Successor	BlackBerry Storm 2
Form factor	Candybar smartphone
Dimensions	112.5 mm (4.43 in) (h) 62.2 mm (2.45 in) (w) 13.95 mm (0.549 in) (d)
Weight	155 g (5.5 oz)
Operating system	BlackBerry OS 5.0.0.419
CPU	528 MHz Qualcomm processor[1][2]
Storage	Flash memory: 128 MB application memory 1 GB device memory[3] microSDHC slot: supports up to 32 GB
Battery	3.7 V 1400 mAh Internal rechargeable removable lithium-ion battery Talk time: 330 min Standby time: 360 hours
Data inputs	Multi-touch touchscreen display with haptic feedback, volume controls, proximity and ambient light sensors, 3-axis accelerometer[3]
Display	360 x 480 px, 3.25 in (83 mm), HVGA, 65,536 color LCD[3]
Rear camera	3.2 megapixel with video at 480 x 352 px, flash, and autofocus[3]
Connectivity	Bluetooth 2.0+EDR,[3] Micro-USB, A-GPS, Quad band GSM 850 900 1800 1900 MHz GPRS/EDGE and Uni band UMTS/HSDPA 2100 MHz CDMA version (9530) adds: Dual band CDMA2000/EV-DO Rev. A 800 1900 MHz[3]
Hearing aid compatibility	M3[4]

Availability

The BlackBerry Storm is available through Vodafone in the UK, Germany, France (SFR), Italy, Ireland, Australia, South Africa (Vodacom), The Netherlands and India;^[7] Verizon Wireless in the United States; Telus, Bell, and SaskTel in Canada; Iusacell in Mexico.^[8] and on lime and Digicel in parts the Caribbean.^[9]
The BlackBerry Storm 9530 is an international and worldwide electronic communicating device, featuring CDMA with EV-DO Rev. A data, UMTS with HSDPA, and quad-band GSM with EDGE data access speed. The BlackBerry Storm 9500 does not include the CDMA module and is destined for use outside North America. However, the BlackBerry Storm only has European, Oceania, Asia and Brazil UMTS and HSDPA frequency bands. Therefore if the BlackBerry Storm is used with GSM wireless carriers in North America, the BlackBerry Storm will only be able to access wireless internet at EDGE data speed maximum. This is because GSM carriers in North America, namely AT&T, T-Mobile, Rogers and Fido do not operate on the same frequency bands for 3G as the rest of the world. If BlackBerry Storm is used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania or Brazil, HSDPA wireless data speed can be achieved, provided that the local GSM network supports it.^[10] The phone will use the primary network technology of its intended carrier (Verizon) when traveling domestically in the US, and rely upon the GSM/UMTS/HSDPA networks of Vodafone mainly when traveling abroad. There are currently no unlocked and unbranded versions available for the GSM Blackberry Storm however unlocking the phone will allow it to be used with any GSM service provider.^[11]

Hardware

The Storm utilizes the MSM7600 from Qualcomm^[1] a dual core CPU with ARM11 400 MHz and ARM9 274 MHz. The device features 1GB of onboard memory, 128MB of NVRAM and an expandable memory slot support for a microSD card of up to an additional 32GB. Verizon Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility include a preinstalled 8 GB microSD card onboard.

Screen and input

The Storm utilizes a 3.25 in (8.3 cm) TFT-LCD capacitive touchscreen with 360x480 pixel resolution, able to display 65,536 colours. The screen itself also provides haptic feedback.
It also implements a virtual keyboard on its touchscreen. Using its accelerometer allows the user to switch between a virtual SureType keyboard when held in portrait mode, and in a full QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode. when using the Storm, you can highlight the chosen button before actually pressing it. Newer versions of the operating system also allow for a full QWERTY keyboard while in portrait mode. The device has an automatic spell check correction, and the SureType keyboard configuration has predictive text. Firmware package 4.7.0.203 (Verizon Wireless) removes the predictive text feature from the multi-tap keyboard configuration; the feature was reinstated in later updates. there has been reviews on reports of screen difficulties such as freezing and wrong buttons loading.
The device features a built-in 3.2 megapixel camera located on back which features a flash, autofocus, and has video recording capabilities with a maximum resolution of 480 x 352 pixels.

Connectivity

The Storm supports CDMA with EV-DO Rev. A data, UMTS with HSDPA, and quad-band GSM with EDGE data access speed. The BlackBerry Storm 9500 has a firmware-disabled CDMA module and is destined for use outside North America. However, the BlackBerry Storm only has European, Oceania, Asia and Brazil UMTS and HSDPA frequency bands. Therefore if the BlackBerry Storm is used with GSM wireless carriers in North America, the BlackBerry Storm will only be able to access wireless internet at EDGE data speed maximum. This is because GSM carriers in North America, namely AT&T, T-Mobile, Rogers and Fido do not operate on the same frequency bands for 3G as the rest of the world. If BlackBerry Storm is used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania or Brazil, HSDPA wireless data speed can be achieved, provided that the local GSM network supports it.^[10] The phone will use the primary network technology of its intended carrier (Verizon) when traveling domestically in the US, and rely upon the GSM/UMTS/HSDPA networks of Vodafone mainly when traveling abroad. There are currently no unlocked and unbranded versions available for the GSM Blackberry Storm however unlocking the phone will allow it to be used with any GSM service provider.^[11] The device also supports Bluetooth v2.0, Bluetooth Stereo Audio via A2DP and AVCRP.

SIM lock

The BlackBerry Storm by default is SIM locked, and can be subsequently unlocked on both the 9500 & 9530 Storm editions to use on any GSM network if the code is obtained from the respective provider. The 9530 is not compatible with AT&T Mobility's 3G UMTS/HSDPA network because its UMTS transceiver only works at 2.1 GHz which is a frequency not used in the United States for UMTS, but the BlackBerry Storm will still work over the slower EDGE network in the United States and respective EDGE network from Rogers Communications in Canada.