New blackberry torch 9800

When you have a product that has been successful for several years, but has fallen somewhat behind the times, it can be difficult to figure out what to change and what to leave alone. With its new BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone, RIM seems to have navigated this line successfully. While it's unlikely that the Torch will draw consumers away from their iPhones and Android devices, at least BlackBerry users won't be completely left in the dust.

BlackBerrys still fly off the shelves. They still convey the message that their owners mean business — that they're people who are important enough to need e-mail access all the time.
But BlackBerrys are now being challenged by phones that say you can have your e-mail, and have fun, too.

Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry, revealed a new phone Tuesday that says the company is still in the game, but it's doing so by catching up to the competition rather than by breaking new ground.

The Torch will be RIM's first device with both a touch screen and the BlackBerry's signature full-alphabet keypad. It hits AT&T stores on Aug. 12 for $199 with a two-year contract.

Meanwhile, RIM is scrambling to deal with suspicion from foreign governments threatened by the very thing that's made the phones such a success in the corporate market — the assurance that a user's e-mail is private.

The Torch will sport RIM's BlackBerry 6 mobile operating system which includes a beefed-up mobile Web browser and what is being touted as RIM's "next generation" messaging system. The new BlackBerry OS also integrate support for Twitter and Facebook and other social networking feeds. The new BlackBerry 6 OS includes MediaSych functionality, supporting wireless syncing to a music library via Wi-Fi.

Small and solid

The new BlackBerry smartphone offers a 3.2-in., 480 x 360 resolution touch display. While it's clear and fairly sharp, the display isn't really comparable to the leading consumer smartphones -- for example, the iPhone 4's 3.5-in. display boasts a 960 x 640 resolution, while the Droid X has an even larger 4.3-in. display with a resolution of 854 x 480.

On the other hand, the unit weighs 5.7 oz., about the same weight as the Droid X, and is, at 2.4 x .57 x 4.4 in., about the same size as the iPhone 4. I found it very comfortable to handle and use, and it is small enough to drop into a shirt pocket without a second thought.

The phone features a slide-out vertical keyboard -- bringing it to a length of 5.8 in. when open -- that still has the rounded look and small but well-engineered keys typical of BlackBerry devices. Personally, I found the keys a little too tiny for comfort, but as is typical of BlackBerrys, I was able to "thumb-type" short messages with relative ease. Current BlackBerry users should be pleased.

The phone also includes four hard keys, including one to begin and one to end a call -- which, as a Droid user who only has access to virtual buttons, I've often wished for.

Other features include a 5-megapixel camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi along with 3G broadband, a 4GB microSD Flash card, 512MB RAM and 4GB built-in storage.

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