BlackBerry Torch – A Big Step Forward?

Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian BlackBerry maker, sold about 150,000 copies in its first trading weekend it launched the Torch 9800 model in the U.S. market, less than about 11 times compared with the first three days after the launch of iPhone in April, when Apple sold 1.7 million copies, says U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal .

BlackBerry’s sales of  Torch (pictured), model released on August 12, are described either as “healthy” or, on the contrary as “disappointing” ,by analysts polled by the business publication.

Following Torch’s evolution you won’t get the same rush as you’d get from Apple or Google, but the phone is still pretty well-equipped and sales look promising.

Here is a review of BB’s latest model.

Torch is BlackBerry’s first slide phone and first device equipped with a “normal” touchscreen. It unveils the iOS 6, which, honestly compared to the Android 2.0 is a little out of date, but still it’s a pretty fair competition.

Even if RIM’s “game” wasn’t topnotch lately, their latest model could be the slight of hope the Canadian company so desperately needed.

A new OS, a new design that was completely untried by RIM before and a new target: the average consumer.

It definitely seems promising, right?

The first thing you’ll notice about the Torch is that it slides open, but despite this “innovation”, it basically maintains the same industrial design we have come to know from RIM. Sure, there are some variations, but comparing the Bold 9700 and the Torch 9800 side-by-side, one can definitely see the similarities.

The size and shape are nearly identical, the thickness differs by only a slight margin (the Torch is 0.57-inches thick, while the Bold is 0.56-inches) and well, the Torch has a full keyboard, compared to the “simpler” Bold, which has a portrait QWERTY.

On the front, you’ll find the familiar BB call, menu, back and end buttons, an optical trackpad just below the display and Torch’s 3.2-inch capacitive display. On the right side if the device, you’ll find the 3.5 headphone jack and the volume rockers, whilst on the left there is only the Micro-USB jack. The top of the phone houses the mute and lock buttons and the 5 MP camera and LED flash are … you guessed it!, on the back of the phone. Once you slide the phone, you’ll see the rather familiar BB QWERTY keyboard appear. The width of the keyboard and its buttons have some improvements (it’s slightly narrower that that of Bold’s 9700 and the buttons are more depressed than previous versions), but once you see the keyboard you’ll fell like you’ve gone back in time and arrived in the year of 2008 yet again.

Still, using the QWERTY gives you a natural and confident feeling and nothing can really compare to that while writing a long e-mail or rapidly browsing the Internet.

Which, by the way, has undergone some heavy improvements. For the most part, the browser on the Torch is leaps and bounds beyond anything that RIM has put in a phone before. If you’re used to the experience of using a Pre, iPhone, or Android device, you’ll feel right at home. Web pages display correctly and reasonably quickly, and all the standard accouterments are here, including pinch-to-zoom, tabbed browsing, and text reflowing. Basically, it’s a pretty good mobile browser with some extra features (such as an actual cursor!).

Although, baby steps toward innovation have been made, BlackBerry still seems an era behind the stars of the smartphone world (Apple and Google). If the Nexus One, the iPhone 4 (or even 3, for that matter), the GalaxyS or the Droid where out of the picture, this smartphone would definetly act decent for its release year.

The Torch is good, great, but still feel somewhat behind the curve.

The Torch could be the best BlackBerry ever, but unfortunately, RIM’s best isn’t good enough.11