THE EYE OF THE (BLACK BERRY) STORM

Storm Suits More Carriers Than iPhone

What helps make the Storm’s? Screen work is a $15 screen overlay device from Synaptic (SYNA), a maker of touch-interface technology that at one time supplied some of the click wheel technology used on Apple’s iPod music players. Andrew Rassweiler, teardown manager at iSuppli, said the device used in the Storm is a first for Synaptic. “It seemed for a while that Synaptic was getting edged out of phones, but now we think we’re going to see more of these in other phones,” he says.

The most expensive component in the Storm is a $35 chip from Qualcomm (QCOM) that may give it an edge over the iPhone. Currently the iPhone only works on so called GSM-GPRS technology based wireless networks, which in the U.S. are used by carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom (DT). The other two dominant wireless service providers, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel (S), employ a technology called CDMA. There is as yet no version of the iPhone that works on a CDMA, while the Qualcomm chip gives the Storm the ability to work on either network type, Rassweiler says. “RIM can sell the same phone to all major carriers around the world,” Rassweiler says. “Apple can’t do that with the iPhone yet.”

Buying from Qualcomm is a departure for RIM, which usually uses chips from Marvell (MRVL). While that makes it easier to manage the phone for carriers with different needs, putting one chip in charge of so much can have some drawbacks, Rassweiler says. “You’re burdening one processor with all the important tasks,” he says.

“That can ultimately slow things down when push comes to shove.” The Storm has at least one other advantage over the iPhone: It sports a better camera. Rassweiler says it’s not clear who built the full camera module assembly; he estimates it added about $13 to the cost to build the Storm. But Omni vision (OVTI) supplied the key camera sensor chip. The camera takes pictures at a resolution of 3.2 megapixels vs. the iPhone’s 2 megapixels. It also has an auto-focus feature, which the iPhone camera lacks.