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Since the release of the BlackBerry Storm in November 2008, there has been much controversy surrounding the quality and stability of the operating system that came packaged with the device. To address these issues, Research In Motion has released a number of incremental updates. In this article, I will discuss the upgrade path which I have taken with my BlackBerry Storm, with an emphasis on the pros and cons of each build. In addition, I will give an in-depth tutorial on how to find the latest version(s) of the OS for most devices and how to update your device to a newer build.

Click here to skip ahead to the good stuff.

BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.75

When I first purchased the Storm in April ‘09, the device was shipping with 4.7.0.75. After getting the chance to really play with the phone, I found it to be decent. Definitely not amazing, but definitely not as horrendous as many reviewers were making it out to be. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that the device was a BlackBerry was basically enough to merit the purchase of the phone. That, added with the new layer of touch functionality, was a great reason to give the phone a chance. That being said, I found the phone to sometimes become unresponsive and slow, which was a pretty big deal to me. Like I said, many of these problems have been addressed, which I will explain below.

BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.122

Being the geek that I am, I quickly discovered that some carriers had officially released a newer version of the OS through the BlackBerry web site. This was not the case with Telus however, which meant I had to try to install a technically unsupported OS. After a small amount of research, I discovered that Bell (another Canadian carrier) had officially released version 4.7.0.122. I then found out that to install an operating system from another carrier, all one had to do was delete a single XML file and install the OS using a standard BlackBerry update method (which I will explain in a moment).

Overall, the transition to 4.7.0.122 was fairly simple. As I expected, there were very few major changes to the UI sans a green “Go” button on the browser’s keyboard and the introduction of a landscape view for the keyboard in general. I expect that the go button was added to ensure a slightly more intuitive browsing experience for users who are less familiar with electronic devices. The option to now use a landscape keyboard was also a great addition, as users were now able to type without being too cramped up. In addition to these keyboard changes, there were several other non-visual improvements, such as a somewhat faster orientation change when the device was rotated, a slightly snappier experience when viewing the main icon screen, and a noticeably faster keyboard when typing messages and emails.

The only visible problem that was introduced with this build has become known as color banding, which is generally not that big of a deal for the average user.

BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.151

Since installing 4.7.0.122 on my device, I really hadn’t had much reason to look into a newer operating system. 4.7.0.122 did exactly what I wanted it to, and it did it fairly well. However, I eventually started to notice that the device would still freeze up occassionally, and this wasn’t really something that I enjoyed dealing with. Having to do a soft reset (See: battery pull) or use QuickPull every day was starting to become a pain.

So, this afternoon I decided it was time to look into installing 4.7.0.148 on my Storm. After doing very little research into the matter, I discovered that there was an even newer version of the OS available, 4.7.0.151. Installing this version of the operating system has possibly been the best decision that I have made as a Storm owner thus far.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you too can greatly improve your Storm’s performance:

Disclaimer: This build of the OS was technically leaked on the BlackBerry update website for Mexican carrier Iusacell. The download link has since been removed from the site, and therefore isn’t actually considered official anymore. By installing this version of the operating system, you are doing so at your own risk, and neither me, Mobilitea, or CrackBerry can be held responsible for what happens to your device. That being said, many users have already installed this build, and it works amazingly on our devices. Good luck!

1. Download the installer for BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.151,
2. Ensure that you remove any previous OS installation files from your machine (thanks to CrackBurglar for reminding me of this!)
3. Run the .exe, which installs the OS installation files to your machine,
4. Connect your device to your PC,
5. Backup your device’s data and third-party applications by running the backup utility in the BlackBerry Desktop Manager,
6. Traverse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader and delete the vendor.xml file
7. Open Loader.exe and follow the on-screen instructions, which will install the new OS
8. Don’t touch anything until the operating is complete! Once the setup is complete, and your phone reboots, you should be able to use it once again!

After updating to 4.7.0.151, I could not be any happier. Thus far, I have noticed the following enhancements:

• A much faster browsing experience. Web sites load and resize quickly, even when scrolling and zooming around the page.
• Color banding is fixed. The colors of the buttons in the main menu now look great. The gradients are visibly clearer and obviously use a much larger set of colors than before.
• The keyboard is far more responsive in both landscape and portrait mode. The keyboard is now more usable, and it is great.
• The device is far more responsive in general. Scrolling through menus and lists works without a hitch, and is a much smoother experience. I have noticed a performance change in virtually every aspect of the UI, and it feels good.
• Screen transitions between applications: When opening a new application, there is a neat (and fast) maximize/minimize animation. It obviously isn’t that big of a deal, but visually, it looks amazing.
• App World seems to run a lot better. I’m not sure if this is an effect of the App itself, or if the operating system enhancements forced it to smarten up. Regardless, I now feel like I can browse for new apps and not worry about my phone crashing.
• More memory. On a fresh reboot, my application memory now starts at around 40MB, whereas before I would boot with around 16MB.

Unfortunately, I have noticed some very small disadvantages for this new OS. However, these are far from deal breakers, and definitely should not scare off anyone from upgrading:

• Occasionally, one of the alternate keys in the keyboard shows up blank. I have only noticed this once, and I have no idea which key it was. I do however, realize that switching back to the main keyboard and then again back to the alternate keyboard fixed the issue.
• There are reports that the accelerometer now reacts a tiny bit slow on an orientation switch. I thought that I noticed this at first, but I am now pretty sure that there is not a difference.
• Apparently, you can not swipe your finger up to show the keyboard any more. I personally never used this feature in the first place, so I can’t be bothered by it.

For those of you who don’t have a storm, and are interested in a newer build for your device, probably head on over to the CrackBerry forums and ask, or check out the latest build as of this writing. Please note that the same process which I outlined above can be used when installing these builds:

• BlackBerry Bold 4.6.0.282
• BlackBerry Curve (8900) 4.6.1.250
• BlackBerry Pearl Flip (8230) 4.6.1.236
• BlackBerry Pearl Flip (8220) 4.6.0.278
• BlackBerry Curve (8350i) 4.6.1.316
• BlackBerry Curve (8330) 4.5.0.160
• BlackBerry Curve (8330m) 4.5.0.138
• BlackBerry Curve (8310/8320) 4.5.0.161
• BlackBerry Pearl (8130) 4.5.0.131

Hopefully this guide was fairly helpful. Many BlackBerry users have been plagued by older operating systems, as they have no idea how to upgrade to the latest version. Sometimes your carrier will have a slightly newer build available, but for the most part, it won’t be the latest version that you could be running.

jlgosse BlackBerry 151, BlackBerry Storm, Operating System, Tutorial, Upgrade, Upgrading