CoolNewStuff

The RIM BlackBerry Torch combines both a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard. The first thing you’ll notice about the Torch, obviously, is that it looks very much like the current crop of BlackBerry devices.

The size and shape of the device is nearly identical to the 9700, and  its dimensions  are4.4-inches up and down by 2.4-inches across when closed.The thickness differs by a tiny margin (the Torch is 0.57-inches thick, while the Bold is 0.56-inches).

The front of the device is mostly taken up by the Torch’s 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen 480 x 360.Along the right side of the phone is a 3.5mm headphone jack, volume rockers, and user-assignable convenience key (it defaults to the camera), while the left side houses only the Micro USB jack. Up top there are mute and lock buttons, while the phone’s 5 megapixel camera and LED flash sit in a familiar spot along the back of the phone.

BlackBerry OS 6 brings such improvements as a better user interface, universal search, and an improved browser and multimedia experience.

Inside, the phone packs 512MB of RAM (doubling that of the Bold 9700 but the same as the 9650) and 4GB of hardwired storage, with a microSD slot for additional storage up to 32GB (you get a 4GB card in the box). As you would expect, there’s 802.11b/g/n WiFi on board along with Bluetooth 2.1 support, as well as an AGPS chip for when you get lost. Disappointingly, RIM is still using the same Marvell CPU found in the 9700, clocked at 624MHz.

The Torch has a 5 megapixel camera along with an LED flash.

Pros: -  Best sliding mechanism (super-smooth) I have ever felt in a mobile device
- For enterprise customers, gives smartphone & touch-screen functionality w/ legendary (ask Saudi Arabia) BlackBerry security
- Very good physical keypad
- Great battery life

Cons: Though performance could be better and it could stand for some hardware upgrades, the RIM BlackBerry Torch 9800 and BlackBerry OS 6 offer much-needed improvements to stay in step with the competition, and keep BlackBerry enthusiasts happy.

The RIM BlackBerry Torch 9800 offer much-needed improvements to stay in step with the competition!