Blackberry Torch 9800 Is Coming

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is the current flagship in the BlackBerry line of smartphones. It combines a physical QWERTY keyboard with a sliding multi-touch screen display and runs on the latest BlackBerry OS 6. Introduced on August 3, 2010, the phone became available exclusively on AT&T on August 12, 2010. The device looks similar to existing BlackBerry devices, but due to the sliding keyboard features a bigger, 3.2 inch 360x480 screen (the same resolution as the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Storm2).The software is seen by most to be an improvement over the previous version, although some reviewers did not find enough difference over earlier BlackBerrys to recommend the device to new users. The device also features far greater social network integration and a powerful universal search feature.

 

When we began our review of the BlackBerry Torch (aka the Bold 9800), our hearts were all aflutter. The leaked shots we'd been seeing of some kind of Palm Pre-esque RIM slider were different and frankly weird enough to cause a kind of low hum gadget lust. Furthermore, although no one on the Engadget team was blown away by what the company had shown us in recent BlackBerry OS 6 demo videos, the promise of a substantially revamped UI and new, Webkit-powered browser certainly got us interested. Even if Research in Motion had been slipping on its once-unassailable smartphone game, there was a sentiment amongst the team that the opportunity for a return to innovative, industry-driving design was wide open for the Canadian company. So when we got our very own Torch to play with, we were understandably excited. A new OS, a new form-factor (completely new for RIM), and from what we could tell, a new outlook from the company about where it wanted to target this product: namely, the average consumer. A great story in the making, no? But it's a fiercely competitive market out there, with devices like the EVO 4G, iPhone 4, and Galaxy S line all vying for the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of the buyer. Can the BlackBerry Torch pick up where hugely successful models like the Curve and Bold have left off? Or is the new phone too little and too late in an industry where technology advances not by tiny step but leaps and bounds? Get the answer to that question -- and many, many more