I finally had the chance to update my Storm to firmware 4.7.0.148. It is, without doubt, the firmware version to have. It fixes some of the most annoying bugs and makes the Storm much more usable.Earlier this week, firmware 4.7.0.148 for the BlackBerry Storm was leaked unofficially to the Internet. It supersedes 4.7.0.141 for the Storm 9530 for Verizon Wireless. What's fixed:

Screen Lock Key

The screen lock key has been one of the biggest sources of frustration with respect to the Storm. Using 4.7.0.141 and earlier firmware versions, it was unresponsive, and barely seemed to function at all. Worse, it often didn't actually lock the screen. I accidentally pocket-dialed some people several times. Definitely not cool.

That is now fixed. It works perfectly as it is supposed to. A quick press locks the screen, and a quick press unlocks the screen.

Photo Gallery

Using the Storm's photo viewer was a frustrating process. It was incredibly slow. Trying to browse through photos via swiping through them was an exercise in madness. It was very slow, very laggy, and would then skip past two or three photos if you over-reacted and swiped again.

That is now fixed. It works almost as seamlessly as on the iPhone. Browsing through photos is no longer painful.

Camera

The camera now operates much faster in my experience. It launches faster, focuses faster, and feels more responsive.

General

In general, the Storm's UI seems more stable. The device hasn't randomly re-started as it did with previous firmware versions. The home screen feels more responsive and less laggy.

In summary, I'd say if you're using any version of firmware for the Storm 9530 other than 4.7.0.148, you're missing out. Of course, this is not an official update that has been approved by Verizon Wireless, so proceed at your own risk.

You can download it here.