 BB Torch is lit
By Theo Boshoff
At an exclusive worldwide event this week, Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of the now all familiar BlackBerry smartphones, lifted the lid on their long-awaited next touchscreen-style smartphone, the Torch 9800.
The Torch 9800 is the second touchscreen phone from RIM, after the BlackBerry Storm (one and two), but unlike the Storm it is not a touch-only phone. This time around the phone also features a backlit slide-out Qwerty keyboard. And not to veer too far from the original style of the BlackBerry phone, the keyboard slides to the bottom of the phone and not to the side as most of today's slide-out keyboards do.
It is also the first of the BlackBerry phones to feature the new and upgraded BlackBerry 6 operating system (OS), sporting a new user interface (UI), supporting the new phone's capacitive touchscreen, multi-touch features, such as "pinch-to-zoom" functionality.
It is evident that the Torch 9800 and new OS have a more consumer feel to it and places social networking communication high on the agenda, while retaining the business-focused capabilities at hand.
Yet another new inclusion in BlackBerry 6 is the WebKit-based browser, which, according to the company, "renders HTML web pages, as well as HTML e-mails quickly and beautifully" for a better user experience. What is great is that users can visit multiple sites at the same time with the new tabs capability. For any avid mobile web surfer, this is a great addition.
The Torch 9800 is also capable of featuring more integrated location-based services as well as features access to more mobile apps from the get-go.
The Torch features a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with 360 x 480 resolution, and as mentioned before, a full Qwerty slide-out keyboard. It features 4GB built-in storage memory with a microSD/SDHD memory card slot, supporting up to 32GB cards.
A smartphone is not a smartphone without a camera and the Torch 9800 features a 5MP camera with flash, zoom, auto focus, image stabilisation, capable of making video recording to easily upload to YouTube.
It features WiFi and GPS, and comes with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to connect any headphone of your choosing.
We could not establish from the local representatives when the Torch 9800 will available locally, if at all, as well as how much it will cost and whether it will be available through all mobile operators or only a specific operator, such is the case in the US, where the Torch will be available through AT&T at a cost of "$199.99 with two-year service agreement on a qualifying rate plan and smartphone data plan required," according to the press release.
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