Reviews vary widely in verdict, just like the original Storm (CNET gives it two out of five stars, while PC Mag gives it four out of five) but on the whole everybody agrees that it's a definite step up, fixing most of the issues users had with the original (most notably that lag problem). Some of the reviews, particularly PC Mag and IntoMobile, are downright glowing, which is unexpected given the critical response to the original Storm, but certainly welcome. Note: The two British publications, TechRadar and Times UK, reviewed the 9520, which is the Vodafone version. All others reviewed the 9550 (the Verizon version we'll see in the States).

CrackBerry: "The Storm2 fixes many of the BlackBerry Storm's outstanding issues and makes a ton of incremental improvements, all of which add up to something that feels noticeably better."
CNET: "The RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 brings some welcome additions, such as Wi-Fi, updated software, and a better touch interface, but it's going to face some serious competition from Verizon's upcoming touch-screen smartphones."

PC Mag: "The BlackBerry Storm2 9550 finally delivers on the original Storm 9530's promise."
Washington Post: "Definitely an upgrade from the first Storm in design and usability"
Wall Street Journal: "Fixes all those [hardware] flaws [in the Storm]," but "the traditional BlackBerry interface cries out for a major overhaul"

Laptop Magazine: "It's really more like a do-over than a sequel."
IntoMobile: "I might find something to nag about on the Storm2 after putting it through the gauntlet, but right now, I just really like this thing. All of the gaps have been plugged."
TechRadar (9520): "Overall, the Storm 2 is very much an improvement over the original Storm, but it's evolutionary rather than revolutionary, despite overhauling the SurePress interface."
Times UK (9520): "For all its attempts to court a new customer base, the core market for the Storm 2 remains the business user"

More than just photos are leaking out about Courier, Microsoft's booklet sized tablet currently in development. Gizmodo has a video showing the Courier's user interface in action. The Gizmodo video is on YouTube (see below) and you should also check out Gizmodo's article about it. The second video looks at an earlier engineering prototype called Codex, also with very early UI design ideas. Courier looks to be the digital equivalent of your calendar, address book, notebook, photos and access to the web -- kind of like an "iPhone meets notebook and pen" device.

While the Courier does use gestures and multi-touch commands, probably the biggest question that popped up for me is whether the pen interface (digital ink) is the right choice for the job. Is the pen interface something that belongs in the Tablet PC era, but not in new touch interface devices? Part of me says the pen's a good idea because that's how we are used to capturing information in our notebooks.

But I personally rarely use a notebook or write things with a pen. I always capture information in my laptop or iPhone, which are pretty much with me constantly. Maybe the touch keyboard, like is used with the iPhone, is the way to go. I personally would rather type, even with a simulated digital keyboard, than write with a pen stylus. It's more akin to using my laptop. The downside is the touch keyboard takes up screen real-estate, where a pen interface doesn't. Apple solved this by hiding and showing the touch keyboard as needed. But the touch's keyboard is more of a thumb-style keypad, not sometime you type with like a normal physical keyboard.

What's really intriguing is thinking about Microsoft and Apple battling it out in the marketplace for this new booklet size tablet. You know Apple's device will be cleanly styled, well designed, and have very good usability. Microsoft's Courier interface is new, something we haven't seen before so we don't know what kind of reaction we'll see from users. In the meantime, we're left to watch videos and simulated interfaces. Hopefully not for long.

So... are you a pen interface user or fan? Or do you prefer the touch keyboard?

With the launch of the Zune HD and the CEDIA show just around the corner, hope has been this could mean an all new integrated future for Windows Media Center and other Microsoft platforms.  Don't hold your breath. The corrected spec sheet received from Microsoft indicated HDTV and protected Windows Media Center DVR-MS (the files used by Vista Media center) recordings were not supported. This is what Microsoft's response was in this:

"Zune HD, and the forthcoming Zune 4.0 PC software, will support and transcode Windows Media Center recorded TV file formats from Windows Vista or Windows 7 that contain MPEG-2 video, in either the DVR-MS or WTV formats. Support is limited to unencrypted SD and HD recordings. HD Files with AC3 audio are not supported by Zune."

As you may or may not be aware, in the U.S. any high definition broadcasts you snag from antenna, ClearQAM or otherwise use Dolby Digital AC-3 audio, meaning the Zune software won't be able to convert them. Current workarounds for bringing Media Center recordings on the go should still be a go, but all we can see is the missed opportunity to tie the two platforms together with easy one click transcoding support. Hopefully Microsoft still has something up its sleeve to pull together Zune and Windows 7 Media Center, but portable DVR recordings ain't it.