Who says you can’t have it both ways?

With RIM’s (RIMM) touchscreen BlackBerry Storm set to be released in the United States next Friday, CIO.com has published eight reasons to choose the Storm over Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.

The same day, it published eight reasons to pick the iPhone over the Storm.

Both pieces are by Al Sacco, who probably doesn’t pay for the phones he reviews.

Here’s why he prefers the Storm:

1. 
   Stereo Bluetooth capability
2. Removable battery
3. Expandable memory
4. Video recording
5. Works as a tethered modem
6. Tactile feedback
7. Copy and paste
8. Multitasking
   
   Here’s why he prefers the iPhone

1. 
   It’s now second-generation
2. Built-in memory
3. iTunes App Store
4. iTunes integration
5. Full QWERY (virtual) keyboard
6. Wi-Fi support
7. iPod media player
8. Safari browser
   
   

 The BlackBerry Storm, Verizon (VZ) and RIM’s (RIMM) answer to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, opens like a Broadway show on Friday. So naturally, Thursday’s papers and blogs are full of reviews. A sampling of the big ones:

Walt Mossberg. The Wall Street Journal. BlackBerry’s Storm Presses Into the Touch-Phone Fray: Mixed positive. He likes the high-res camera (which does video), the replaceable battery, the push e-mail, the ability to cut-and-paste, the corporate security features and Verizon’s 3G network — an improvement over AT&T’s (T). He misses Wi-Fi, however, and he’s not particularly fond of the so-called SurePress touchscreen. “The feature does provide a more reassuring confirmation that a key has been struck or an icon has been clicked than the mere visual feedback one receives from the iPhone. But neither I, nor any of the several BlackBerry addicts I asked to try it out, considered typing on the Storm’s keyboard to be very similar to using the keyboard of a traditional full-sized BlackBerry.” 

Joshua Topolsky. Engadget. BlackBerry Storm review: “The selling points are easy: the phone is gorgeous to look at and hold, it’s designed and backed by RIM (now almost a household name thanks to their prevalence in the business and entertainment markets), and it’s packed with features that, at first glance, make it seem not only as good as the iPhone, but better. The only hitch in this plan is a major one: it’s not as easy, enjoyable, or consistent to use as the iPhone, and the one place where everyone is sure they have an upper hand — that wow-inducing clickable screen — just isn’t all that great.”

Daniel Dumas. Wired.com. RIM’s First Touchscreen Device Almost Eclipses the iPhone: “WIRED Click screen is a revelation for touch compatible devices. Converts iTunes to BlackBerry media without breaking a sweat. Included GSM card means the Storm is a true globetrotter - it can work in virtually any foreign port. Photos, video, and text pop like Ice Cube’s AK (on a bad day). Posh fit and finish look rich enough to buy YOU dinner. — TIRED OS lag on a piece of hardware this gorgeous is unacceptable. Scrolling through menus is jagged, slow, and pokey. Accelerometer sometimes takes a good 5-10 seconds to orient itself. Lack of Wi-Fi is lame. Verizon’s totalitarian control over the Storm’s OS is even lamer.”

Yardena Arar. PC World. BlackBerry’s Storm: Awkward and Disappointing: “The decision by Research in Motion to differentiate the Storm by giving its capacitive touch screen a mechanical component (the entire screen functions as a button for confirming selections or initiating actions) turns out to be more confusing than helpful. Ultimately, the Storm’s touch interface feels like a failed experiment. — It’s too bad, because the Storm has some nice features and makes a great first impression.”

The Boy Genius. The Boy Genius Report. Verizon BlackBerry Storm review: “The good thing is that this is, afterall, a BlackBerry, and once you get past accepting that there will be some hiccups, it’s really not all that bad. It’s a great phone, a very good device for email, a really good media player, and a decent web browsing machine. You’ll just have to decide what your priorities are in a mobile device and see if the Storms meets that.”

Have you weathered the Storm? Tell us what you liked — or didn’t like — in the comments below.
 

Apple's iPhone is threatening RIM's dominance in the smartphone market. In response, the Canadian company just launched three new models. Will the gambit work?

(Fortune Magazine) -- As the first snow of the season dusts the Research in Motion campus next to the University of Waterloo, an hour southwest of Toronto, Mike Lazaridis polishes a tiny BlackBerry screen, places it on the table, and sends it whipping foosball-style through a sea of smartphone components. The company's co-founder and co-CEO then pulls out a circuitboard and points to an encased chip the size of a Scrabble tile.

"That right there is the most advanced smartphone ever made," he says. "There's no phone that measures up."

RIM (RIMM) may have the smartest chip, but that by itself won't be enough for it to thrive in the increasingly competitive smartphone market. In the decade since Mike Lazaridis first traveled the U.S. handing out BlackBerrys to corporate information officers, RIM has dominated the $12 billion annual U.S. market for smartphones, with a 50% share (see chart). Globally, RIM doubled its share this year, to 14% of the market, while still trailing Nokia, which has 42%.

As customers replace their tired flip phones with iPhones and other PDAs, RIM finds its dominant U.S. market share under siege. The company must protect its enterprise turf, where its BlackBerry is still the favorite tool for e-mail among corporate IT managers, and at the same time compete with Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Nokia (NOK), and even Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) in the consumer market, which is growing fast.

The challenge comes at a crucial time for RIM. Its stock is down more than 64% from a 52-week high of $148 a share, similar to the performance of rivals Nokia and Apple. And while fiscal 2008 revenues and profits doubled, to $6 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively, growth is slowing slightly. In the most recent quarter, ended in August, revenues increased 88% compared with a year earlier, and profits jumped 72%.

To woo consumers, RIM has developed three new smartphones. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip looks a good deal like Motorola's Razr; T-Mobile launched it Oct. 13, at $149 with a two-year contract.

The Bold is a souped-up version of the Curve with a larger screen; AT&T brought it out Nov. 4 in the U.S., at $299 with a two-year contract, making it $100 more expensive than the iPhone.

And then there's the Storm, a touchscreen phone commissioned by Verizon to compete in price directly with Apple's iPhone and due out during the holidays.

The Storm is clunkier than the iPhone but, RIM argues, better engineered. It solves many of the problems iPhone users bemoan: Its screen depresses slightly when users type, imitating the sensation of a real keyboard. And its battery is removable, whereas the iPhone's is not.

It's not clear that those features are enough to attract consumers who love the iPhone's rich offering of applications created by independent developers. These include a way to scroll through New York Times headlines and a GPS mapping system.

RIM needs to play catch-up in the consumer market, which is now the fastest-growing segment. Says Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-CEO: "The opportunity has expanded, but so has the level of contention."

Last month the company held its first developers' conference, in Santa Clara, Calif. With 20 million subscribers, RIM found it easy to generate interest. The company was expecting 600 attendees and got 900. At an after-hours party to show off programs, the excitement was palpable.

A 28-year-old software developer named Robert Kao jumped on a makeshift stage and plugged his BlackBerry into the overhead projector to demo a new software program. A hundred guys (and two women) chugged Coronas while Kao explained how his homing software could track lost phones, back up content, and, with the click of a button, obliterate all your e-mails and phone numbers. Think Lojak for your phone. Before he finished, a venture capitalist in the front row piped up, "I'll fund you."

At the event RIM announced an application store, which will open its digital doors next March. Developers can submit their programs for sale the way they can at the iPhone App store, but RIM has promised them 80% of the revenue, vs. only 70% for Apple developers.

Both companies will also need to cope with Google's Android G1, the much-anticipated smartphone that may give software developers an even better deal.

This past spring RIM contributed to a venture fund to spur new software development. The Toronto-based BlackBerry Partners Fund, run by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners, was launched shortly after the creation of a $100 million fund for iPhone applications, which is managed by the Palo Alto venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

At $150 million, RIM's fund is bigger. "There is only so far that organic growth can take you in any business," says Kevin Talbot, who is the fund's co-managing partner, with John Albright.

The fund has just announced its first investments: Israel-based MobiMate helps travelers by keeping track of delayed flights. Austin-based Digby helps retailers set up web stores for cellphone screens. In New York City, Buzzd makes a guide that locates users and recommends nearby events.

Even as RIM broadens its focus to the consumer market, it is looking for more ways to make itself indispensable to its corporate clients. The latest: software that lets you seamlessly move between your office phone line and your BlackBerry. A call that starts in the car en route to work can end in the office, and no one will be the wiser. Businesses can save money by routing calls through whichever phone service is cheapest.

The good news for RIM is that many CIOs are wary of the iPhone because of security issues and because it's harder to customize its software for corporate use. After months of testing, several major corporations recently decided to pass on the iPhone.

This gives RIM breathing room to consolidate its lead. Some Apple lovers, however, are already pressuring their IT managers to approve the iPhone for corporate use. An Apple spokesperson says it continues to get a lot of interest from Fortune 500 companies. Watch out, RIM.