BlackBerry Torch

Mobile phone fans will be delighted with the latest offering from Blackberry. The Torch 9800 maintains the much loved features of previous models, namely the full Qwerty keypad, but has also been brought upto date with a brand new 3.2" touchscreen and new operating system.

In order to accommodate the excellent full keypad and a touch sensitive screen, this new model is a slider style design. When not in use the keypad tucks away neatly behind the screen. This means for accepting a call or quickly browsing the web users may take advantage of the very responsive display. To compose a lengthy e mail or message however, you can simply slide down the keypad to benefit from the more precise text input that it offers. In terms of design, the fact that numerous keys are now hidden away means the look is much sleeker than previous models. Measuring 111 x 62 x 14.6mm the handset is certainly not small, but considering what it fits within its frame this is no surprise. The phone does feel well built, and the weight of 161 grammes adds to this sturdy feel. The 3.2" screen boasts an HVGA quality at a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels and also includes light and proximity sensors. When the screen is slid upwards the keypad is revealed, adding a further 37mm to the overall height, but considering the convenience that this offers in the composition of e mails and messages, the extra size seems like a fair trade.

The Blackberry Torch comes with the latest version 6.0 operating system software pre installed. This is the first handset to offer this newest version, and although man details have not been released yet, we know the phone will feature a series of sliding homescreens similar to the iPhone. These are fully customisable, meaning you can put your own favourite shortcuts and links there, as well add links to your favourite media stored with the handsets 4GB of memory. This amount of memory is ample for general pone use, but for anybody wishing to use the phone as an audio player or to store video footage may want to take advantage of the handy micoSD card slot, which will allow for further memory to be added upto to 32GB. Blackberry's superb unified inbox is once again present on this model, meaning users can link multiple e mail accounts as well as social networking messages and SMS all in the one place. This is really a much easier way of handling incoming messages rather than using multiple applications.

The Blackberry Torch 9800 looks a very appealing handset, bringing together the great functionality of previous models with new features such as a touch screen and a very promising new operating system.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Specs:

• 3.2 inch HVGA+ touch screen
• 480×360 pixels resolution
• Optical trackpad
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard with backlighting
• Light and proximity sensor
• 3.5mm stereo headset jack
• Hands-free headset capable
• Bluetooth headset capable
• Integrated hands-free speaker phone
• Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR
• 3G Connectivity
• Wi-Fi
• 5 megapixel camera with continuous auto-focus
• Image stabilization
• 2X digital zoom
• VGA (640×480) video recording
• Geotagging
• 512 MB flash memory
• 512 MB SDRAM
• MicroSD card slot
• 4 GB internal memory
• 32GB expandable memory
• 4 GB media card included
• Built-in GPS with BlackBerry Maps
• Up to 30 hours music playback
• Up to 6 hours video playback
• Up to 18 days Standby Time
• Up to 5.5 hours talk-time
• 1300 mAHr lithium-ion battery

This device is exclusively available for AT&T customers and it comes with a price tag of $200 with a 2 years contract.