subject: Finally, An Innovative Handset From Rim The Blackberry Torch [print this page] With Android sweeping the American smartphone landscape, Canadas Research In Motion takes its Blackberry flagship smartphone to innovative heights it last took in 2008 with its Storm handset.
Welcome the Blackberry Torch 9800 the first Blackberry in a slider form factor that blends touchscreen functionality with its signature portrait QWERTY keyboard. It is also the first to sport a 5-megapixel camera that is sure to delight a younger crop of executives. Still expensive, but its slider form and better camera specs bring the serious business phone brand to mainstream consumer markets.
Features at a Glance
The unique slider form is a touchscreen measuring 111 x 62 x 14.6mm when closed and weighing 161g to make it feel rock solid in your hands. It has a 3.2-inch TFT resistive touchscreen with 480 x 360 resolution.
It doesnt come with a gravity accelerometer but theres a proximity sensor for disabling touchscreen sensitivity in a call. When open, the Blackberry Torch 9800 reveals the signature Blackberry QWERTY keyboard which gives QWERTY fans the tactile keyboard option.
Under the hood is a 624 MHz engine that runs the latest Blackberry OS v6.0 and offers a cornucopia of radio connectivity options with its quad band radios in the UMTS for 3G and GSM for 2G.
Its data connectivity technologies include HSDPA/HSUPA data speeds on 3G and class 10 GPRS/EDGE data speeds on 2G. Local data transfer and synching gets Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and microUSB 2.0. An integrated GPS radio with A-GPS powers its SatNav functionality that comes preloaded with Blackberry Maps.
The Blackberry Torch 9800 uses an onboard 512 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM for OS and application files while an in-built user memory is capped at a generous 4GB. You also get microSD external storage expandability for up to 32 GB.
A 4GB microSD card is included in its sales package. A 1300 mAh li-ion battery when fully charged, delivers up to 5.5 hours of talk time on 2G, a bit higher on 3G and 432 hours when on standby.
On top of Blackberrys famous BES access for push email functionality of corporate emails, the Torch gets social networking graces with apps for Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. RSS and social feeds, along with a document reader that makes it a competent ebook reader. You also get access to its growing library of apps in the Blackberry app store.
Multimedia Features
Multimedia functionality on the Blackberry Torch 9800 starts with its imaging with a camera to have a 5-megapixel resolution. It also comes with LED flash, geo tagging, image stabilization and continuous autofocus on its VGA video recording.
RIM remains without a stereo FM radio like other Blackberry smartphones, but its multimedia players and listening options qualify it as a capable music phone. It supports MP3, WMA, eAAC+, FLAC and OGG audio files as well as MP4, WMV and H.263/H.264 video file codecs.
Music listening can be wired with its 3.5mm stereo audio jack or wireless with its A2DP profile supports wireless stereo headphones. Its li-ion battery delivers 30 hours of uninterrupted music listening on a single charge.
