Hat tip to Chuck for the name of this post. Ever since Verizon shipped their new BlackBerry, the 9530 Storm, everyone has been complaining about how miserable it is to use. I'm not sure how much testing goes on, but take a look at the dates of various OS releases and leaks:
24-Nov-2008 – Official Verizon launch, OS 4.7.0.65.
04-Dec-2008 – Bell Mobility Canada releases OS 4.7.0.76, 10 days after Verizon launch.
08-Dec-2008 – Verizon releases OS 4.7.0.75, 14 days after official launch.
18-Dec-2008 – OS 4.7.0.83 leaked, 24 days after official launch, 10 days since last release.
28-Dec-2008 – OS 4.7.0.85 leaked, 34 days after official launch, 10 days since last leak.
12-Jan-2009 – OS 4.7.0.86 leaked, 49 days after official launch, 15 days since last leak.
21-Jan-2009 – OS 4.7.0.90 leaked, 58 days after official launch, 9 days since last leak.
01-Feb-2009 – OS 4.7.0.99 leaked, 69 days after official launch, 11 days since last leak.
11-Feb-2009 – OS 4.7.0.103 leaked, 79 days after official launch, 10 days since last leak.
23-Feb-2009 – OS 4.7.0.109 leaked, 91 days after official launch, 12 days since last leak.
10-Mar-2009 – OS 4.7.0.114 leaked, 106 days after official launch, 15 days since last leak.
The leak dates are approximate, but basically you've got a new leaked release every 11 days, with the last official release from Verizon being more than 3 months ago. Since Verizon released 4.7.0.75 there have been 8 leaked releases! These releases have added an incredible amount of stability and usability. Major features have been added too including the ability to use a full QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode now (instead of SureType) and the new iPhone knock-off text selection.
So what's the deal with Verizon? How much crap does an OS from RIM have to go through before they'll ship it? If they care that much about the quality of an OS, why did they release the Storm with such a turd of an OS like 4.7.0.65? Even if there are bugs with 4.7.0.114 there is no way that the overall user experience could be any worse than that of 4.7.0.75.
On Twitter Boy Genius mentioned that he heard the next official 9530 update from Verizon would be at the end of March – 127 days since the launch of the device and 113 days since the last official release. It's almost a sure thing that if that date holds true VZW will release an OS older than 4.7.0.114 which was leaked yesterday (March 11th).
Tags: 9530, BlackBerry, iPhone, OS Releases, Storm, Verizon
