Blackberry Torch 9800

 
The BlackBerry Torch combines both a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard. BlackBerry OS 6 brings such improvements as a better user interface, universal search, and an improved browser and multimedia experience.

The Torch's shape is a little bit BlackBerry Storm and a little bit BlackBerry Bold. We wouldn't call it sexy but the look is certainly appropriate for the corporate scene, where BlackBerrys still dominate. In its closed state, the Torch measures 4.4 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick and weighs 5.7 ounces. It's a rather hefty handset, but it feels very solid, with a textured soft-touch finish on back. It's also thin and short enough to comfortably slip into a pant pocket.

On front, the Torch features a 3.2-inch half-VGA (480x360 at 188 pixels per inch) capacitive touch screen. Overall, the display is clear and bright enough for reading text and viewing Web pages, photos, and video. However, compared with many of today's smartphones, such as the HTC Droid Incredible and Samsung Captivate, the difference in resolution is noticeable and Torch's screen falls a bit flat.

The RIM BlackBerry Torch is the first model to ship running BlackBerry OS 6, and much like the phone's design, when revamping the BlackBerry platform, RIM wanted to present something both fresh and familiar.

The RIM BlackBerry Torch 9800 is a quad-band world phone featuring 3G support, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Other phone features include speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dial, visual voice mail, and text and multimedia messaging. Text and multimedia messages are now combined into a single in-box and supports threaded chat view, inline addressing and group chat. You can also instantly connect with friends through BlackBerry Messenger as well as through standard instant messaging clients like Windows Live, Yahoo, Google Talk, and AIM, all of which are preloaded on the phone.

The Torch supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, FLAC, and OGG music files and MPEG4, H.263, H.264, and WMV video codecs. To get files on the phone, you can use the Torch as a mass-storage device and simply drag and drop files. Alternatively, the new BlackBerry Desktop Software 6 can sync your media libraries from Windows Media Player or iTunes, and there's also a Wi-Fi Music Sync feature that, among other things, will allow you to download songs to your smartphone over your home's Wi-Fi network. The Torch has 4GB on onboard memory and comes with a 4GB microSD card, though the expansion slot can accept up to 32GB cards.

The Torch features a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus, 2x zoom, and an LED flash. It's the highest camera RIM has ever put on a BlackBerry but the company says it's not about the megapixels.

The BlackBerry Torch's battery has a rated talk time of 5.5 hours (2G)/5.8 hours (3G) and up to 17 days (2G)/13 days (3G) of standby ti