subject: The First Blackberry 6 With A Touchscreen And Slide Keyboard [print this page] RIM's all new BlackBerry Torch 9800 for AT&T capitalizes on BlackBerry's historical strength by including awesome keyboard and killer email while featuring a plethora of new features including a proper touchscreen, upgraded camera and the highly anticipated BlackBerry 6 operating system. It will be available August 12th for $199.99 after contract. Research In Motion may not have invented the slider, but by working hand in hand with AT&T on its development since the project took root in late 2008, they have come very close to perfecting it.
With some major upgrades and many subtle refinements throughout the user interface and under the hood, BB6 plays catch up in the smartphone wars. With the Torch, it now delivers to BlackBerry users a modern feeling experience that takes messaging and social media to a new level while placing much more emphasis on traditional media (photos, music, video, podcasts, etc.). In the world of smartphones, it is easy to think that the manufacturers make all of the decisions in developing a new device, and once built they start working with the carriers to bring it to market. In many cases that's true, but in other situations the carrier will tell the manufacturer what they want and work together on turning that idea into reality. Such was the case with AT&T and the BlackBerry Torch 9800.
The Torch's physical keyboard and trackpad maintain the one-handed ease of use that traditional BlackBerry users value but adds a large touchscreen display that makes the experience more engaging and intuitive all around. Not only can you see more on the display, but you can tap pretty much everything on the touchscreen. You don't have to think about how to use or hold the Torch. You just use it. The device really does feel natural to use whether the slider is open or closed, portrait or landscape. Even the software touch keyboard works well.
The real story with the Torch is not the hardware. Rather, it's RIM's next play in the OS department -- BlackBerry 6. While it's not the radical departure some were hoping for, the revamped operating system takes some extreme steps to deal with issues that have plagued BlackBerry phones for quite awhile. In particular, the company has canned its awful web browsing experience in exchange for a new Webkit-based browser, and Webkit also serves as the new underlying framework for email on the phone, as well as a new class of applications coded using web standards (sound familiar?). Additionally, RIM has gone to great lengths in 6 to reduce the "menus within menus" experience of the previous operating system and has included a powerful universal search alongside a social networking tool which allows you to aggregate RSS feeds and services like Twitter or Facebook into a single view.
Overall, if you're a BlackBerry user coming off of a OS 5 device, you won't feel totally freaked out when you see the homescreen on 6, though there are some notable differences. RIM has cleaned up and smoothed out a lot of the iconography and text in the UI, making the whole OS feel much more cohesive and consistent. Graphically, BlackBerry 6 occupies the same space as OS 5, though it feels softer, more polished, and a bit more upscale. Nearly every part of the interface has been altered in some way, though the most notable changes are present in the homescreen.
