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If there is one thing you see in business, it is many people carry around two phones. They use a personal phone and a business phone. RIM wants to change that by added new software that would handle the two separately. It is called Blackberry Balance. We'll see if it flies...

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The goal behind the software is to let BlackBerry owners rely on a single smartphone, so they can use the same device for business and social reasons. IT administrators--concerned about personal devices tapping into their networks--will also be able to manage and secure the corporate side of the phone while leaving the personal side up to the user.

"There are two fundamental use cases on the smartphone--enterprise and personal. The problem is that they are conflicting," McDowell told Reuters.

As an example, people will be able to freely hop onto the Internet and use Facebook and other social-networking sites. But access to corporate e-mail through a BlackBerry Enterprise Server would be controlled by IT, with a virtual wall separating the two sides.

And then a user screws up and that "virtual wall" is gone and your corporate network is now open for everyone.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20029305-94.html

I've had the Storm for about a day and I've been using it on and off. I mainly got the phone for data usage and since charging it to full yesterday at 2:30PM, it is about half full in battery life. I'll come back in a longer article about more specifics.

The Storm needs a firmware update, at least. Hopefully it comes quickly. The UI is sluggish (at best). The accelerometer doesn't work well and takes a very long time to switch to portrait or landscape mode. The SurePress clicking is nice, but it can be disabled and it should be an option. It wouldn't be that hard. Many apps I've downloaded use a normal touch instead of having to click.

The clicking function is awkward since there is a huge button in the center, but not the edges, of the screen. When you try to click the edge of the screen, it is much more difficult than clicking the center. The screen itself wiggles when you hold your thumb on it and move it around. That seems like a design flaw.

The backlight bleeds out of the unit which reeks of poor packaging.

There are other problems and many issues I have would probably be glossed over with a firmware update. I bet something is coming soon, it is pretty bad. The demo units in Verizon stores are sluggish and such. My unit crashed a few times as well.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend the Storm just yet. I don't know why Verizon released the phone in this state. It is pretty terrible. I'm sure an extra two weeks would have ironed out these issues that are blatantly there.

RIM will introduce software to emulate all the functions of a Blackberry for Windows Mobile 6.0 devices. This will allow people using those devices to connect to a BES machine just like a normal blackberry. It still sucks.

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The software, due in the fall, is designed to extend BlackBerry's dominance by offering an option to individuals who may not want to switch devices to get the service, and to companies that would like to give employees a wider selection of handhelds without being forced to support multiple mobile e-mail platforms. The application replaces the Windows layout and icons on the display with the look of the BlackBerry interface, customized to the specific buttons and screen size of that device. A non-BlackBerry device would then be able to connect with BlackBerry servers for e-mail, calendar, address book and other applications written for the platform by RIM and third-party developers.