One of the great things about being a part of the BlackBerry Partners Fund is that I get to play with all of the latest mobile devices. I have used the Curve, the Bold, the Flip and most recently I have been using the new BlackBerry Storm as my primary device for about a week now.  I also have an iPhone 3G (and still have a 2G which I use as a paper weight) so I know a little bit about what I am about to describe: the real differences between using the Storm and the iPhone.

If your smartphone is going to be used for email then you need to be able to type on it.  The Storm is a fantastic typing device.  My buddy Jeff at RIM said that I wouldn't like it as much as a physical keyboard (e.g. Bold's excellent keyboard) but I have to say that after a week I am hooked.  The clicking of the glass gives just enough tactile response that it feels like you are using a physical keyboard.  You can type quickly with two thumbs in landscape mode just like on a physical keyboard device. In portrait mode you can use SureType (which works remarkably well too).  I understand that in beta they have made a Qwerty keyboard layout available in portrait mode as well.  My only suggestion is that RIM devide the keyboard (in landscape mode) as a reminder of which thumb to use.  Overstretching (using one thumb on the opposite side of the keyboard often leads to mis-typing).

The iPhone, on the other hand, is clearly not a device for typing email.  Unless you have VERY small fingers it is impossible to type with two thumbs and in portrait mode it is clearly a one finger typing device.  Now, if you have just dumped your Razr for an iPhone, you will love texting on the iPhone but that is about it.  If you need to type emails on your mobile device then you need a BlackBerry - any one will do. And, while not a fan of SureType, it works remarkably well.

As for the other complaints, I am not all that hung up on the lack of WiFi and 3G on the current version of the Storm vs the iPhone.  Give RIM time to evolve the platform.  People have very short memories about all the complaints about the first iPhone (no 3G or WiFi OR applications for that matter). I do find the accelerometers on the Storm to be a little less responsive than the iPhone's and I do find myself wanting to gesture (using iPhone's Multi-Touch capabilities) on the Storm but, otherwise, the important things like screen resolution, fit and finish and weight in-the-hand are about even.

Having said that, closing the gap has more to do with software (applications) than technology.  The Storm is a very capable BlackBerry.  That means it is my primary device because I need my email, calendar and address book with me at all times (and connected to my enterprise server.  So, why do I also carry an iPhone?  Aside from official business (like testing UIs) it has all my music, movies, photos and apps (free or nearly free games and rather useless but totally fun and cool applications).  With Apple's removal of DRM on its music I can now load my music collection onto my BlackBerry.  And, while there is nothing preventing me from moving my movies and photos over, it is not as easy and elegant as using iTunes to sync the iPhone.  RIM needs (very badly) to develop and deploy a consumer-centric desktop application for management of media on the BlackBerry.  The bundled Roxio product is ancient and falls short of today's standards. In this day and age, simple and elegant wins.  I shouldn't need a computer science degree to get my media onto my device.

This brings me to the BlackBerry Application Storefront, which has now started to accept submissions from developers.  The lesson to be learned from Apple's incredibly successful App Store (15,000 apps available and 500 million downloads as at January 17 ^th, 2009) which opened on July 11, 2008 with 500 apps is that easy discovery, easy payment and easy download is critical to success.  There are thousands of excellent BlackBerry apps currently available, many available OTA (over-the-air) but you have to look for them.  They aren't presented in a tightly integrated and elegant framework.  That should change in the near future and that, more than hardware or OS features will drive significant value to consumers.