Canada’s Research in Motion has unveiled its newest touchscreen device, the BlackBerry Torch, ratcheting up its battle with rivals such as Nokia, Google and Apple.
The new phone — it goes on sale in the US on 12 August for US$199 on a two-year service plan with AT&T — has both a touch screen and a slide-out tactile Qwerty keyboard, making it like a hybrid of the company’s popular Storm 2 and Bold 2 handsets.
The Torch also has a 360×480 capacitive touch screen, an optical trackpad, 4GB of built-in memory and a 5-megapixel camera. It supports Wi-Fi access for hotspot connectivity, and full 3G for mobile broadband.
The new device will also be the first phone to sport the new BlackBerry 6 operating system.
Many of the changes in BlackBerry 6 are under the hood, including support for multitasking, a feature that many BlackBerry users have long demanded. The new software allows multiple file selection, so users can send more than one picture to a social networking site, for example.
There’s also a new search feature. Called Universal Search, it finds anything on the device, including contacts, e-mails and settings. Of course, that’s a feature that’s been available on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS for some time already.
Good news is BlackBerry 6 comes with a shiny new Web browser that can automatically wrap text on websites. It also has an improved user interface.
Then there’s Wi-Fi Music Sync, a new application that will ship with the BlackBerry Torch. Using desktop software from Research in Motion, the sync will integrate with iTunes and Windows Media Player and sync with the Torch through a Wi-Fi network.
Research in Motion won’t say how much the Torch will cost or when it will go on sale in SA. However, it’s already been “type approved” by the Independent Communications Authority of SA, so BlackBerry fans shouldn’t have to wait too long to get their hands on the device. — Candice Jones, TechCentral
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