I just purchased the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and I am a Verizon customer, so while I am excited about OS 6 and the Slider Torch, I will not be switching to AT&T. That said this is a great looking BlackBerry with a rocking OS. Wait the first device running BlackBerry OS 6. To say I am jealous would be an understatement. Please Please Please let the Torch out sell the iPhone. If I was an AT&T customer I would be pre-ordering the BlackBerry Torch 9800. I doubt you will need a case to make it or be concerned with dropped calls (we all know this is not an AT&T issue). RIM did an outstanding job with OS 6. I am still unclear how the experience is on a non-touch screen device, but they added features that trump Google and Apple and looked familiar to Windows Phone 7.
Robb is sitting on an island some where in the Caribbean so he cannot comment yet, but being a true BlackBerry fan he needs sign an AT&T contract, just to give RIMarkable readers his hands on opinion of the BlackBerry Torch. This would be a popular give-away device. Hint…Hint Robb :). Okay before I get banned for writing on RIMarkable back on topic. Who is buying the Torch? bluehorseshoe? Video and Press Release after break. Update: BlackBerry Torch is $499.99 without a contract.
Press Release
Today, Research In Motion (RIM) launched the BlackBerry Torch 9800 – RIM’s first slider smartphone. This premium new smartphone features a capacitive touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which includes a powerful WebKit browser. With the legendary BlackBerry keyboard you love accompanying a large touch screen, users now have the best of both worlds – a refined smartphone designed for the heart and the head. And with BlackBerry 6, graphical menus, intuitive navigation and universal search make the BlackBerry user experience the most dynamic ever!
Key BlackBerry Torch features include:
· Brand new form factor – Touch/QWERTY combination smartphone
· BlackBerry 6 – Featuring:
o Context-sensitive pop-up menus for more relevant options
o A new WebKit browser for faster and more robust performance
o Integrated social feeds including the ability to update multiple social networks from a single screen
o Engaging multimedia experience
o Universal Search to uncover results throughout your smartphone – from Contacts, Apps, data and the Web
· Sleek design with a touch-sensitive trackpad located on the front face of the device
· The first BlackBerry smartphone to include the new BlackBerry App World pre-installed, supporting carrier billing through AT&T, making it easier for customers to discover and purchase applications
· 3.2″ 360 x 480 capacitive touch screen display
· Vivid 5.0MP camera with flash, auto focus, image stabilization and geo-tagging
· Support for 3G networks (HSDPA)
· 512MB Flash memory, 4GB on?board memory, microSD/SDHC memory card slot (4GB card included, cards up to 32GB supported)
· Built?in GPS and Wi?Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
· Network Support
o GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
o HSPDA/UMTS: 800/850/1900/2100 MHz
· Approximately 4.4″ x 2.4″ x 0.57″ (closed), 5.8″ x 2.4″ x 0.57″ (open)
In the U.S, the BlackBerry Torch will be available for AT&T customers on August 12 in AT&T company owned retail stores, online at www.att.com/blackberrytorch, and at Best Buy, Wal-Mart and RadioShack stores. The smartphone will be available for $199.99 with 2-year service agreement on a qualifying rate plan and data plan required. For more information about the BlackBerry Torch, please see the full press release at http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=4238.
For more details on BlackBerry 6, please watch the BlackBerry 6 YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plWOkI_Urwo and visit http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=4237. Images of the BlackBerry Torch will be posted shortly at http://www.rim.com/newsroom/media/gallery/.
Hey, any idea on what the full price of the Torch is going to be?
No clue yet but let me dig into it. I suspect between 510 and 600 but I will see what I can find
Much appreciated!
I was close. No contract Price is $499
This phone looks more amazing than I originally thought after watching all of these release videos. Waiting for a contract upgrade will not be fun but I think that if you are an At&t premier customer you can get a bit of a discount off the retail price maybe like $350-400 instead of $500.
Still behind the competition (Apple & Google). They’ll keep their business customers but most consumers are/will be bored.
NPD Numbers support exactly what you are saying
Wow…SureType on the touch screen AND a full slide out QWERTY. I think Robb should buy the phone to test it out and give it to ME when he’s done! LoL
No way I’m getting it before January otherwise, unless I can talk AT&T into an early upgrade. I don’t want to upgrade early anyway, I want to see what’s out there Android-wise in January for AT&T before I decide what I’m getting next.
However, I will say that the new BlackBerry has changed my mind from “totally going Android” to “thinking it over” when pondering my next phone.
Yawn. More mediocre products from a clueless company.
It is interesting as you listen to various tech outlets the various opinions. Sor are you a BB user…iPhone…Android..Symbian…Window Mobile
Just not impressed. I want a larger screen. The Torch is 360 x 480 compared to 480 x 320 on the original Bold 9000 introduced two years ago.
I’m a die hard BB user and have been since the curve. I currently use the 9700 and love the track pad feature. I think the Torch will bring a bit of the iphone to the market unlike the Storm. I owned the Iphone before and it’s much more a toy then the BB. I sure hope that the purchase price is $499.00 out of contract.
wow i love it,i was waiting for it so much! any idea whether it will be available with tmobile???i live in europe 🙁 my contract with shit iphone will expire on the 24th and id love to change it for a blackbery as sooooon as possible :”(
I love how this thing is getting panned in almost every article and forum/boards. People simply posting that the device is mediocre. But, who said this was an “iPhone killer”? Certainly not RIM. Who says everyone must run out an buy one? I for one may not purchase this device, but that is because I’m unsure of having a slider. I like that they spruced up the UI finally and it looks a little less ancient. I know the world of Android and iPhone and yes they are great devices. They are FUN devices. What is the blackberry? It is a rugged device that does all most of us need it to do. Now, we who actually like blackberry (and aren’t simply looking for our phones to do things we never need) will welcome the new look to our same ol’ rugged, nice battery life having, task listing, memo writing, & phone calling device. IF you don’t like BB, I have to honestly ask what so many folks are doing visiting sites that are geared toward those who like, and/or appreciate, the devices. I have never seen so much hate for a phone maker. I wouldn’t say anything if it were on general tech sites. But folks are making it their business to go to Blackberry sites and forums to voice displeasure of what? What they knew weeks ago? Just to join the line? The device isn’t for everyone. Even the other phones have those who dislike it, but seriously taking time out simply to dis a device that you don’t have to use?
there will always be haters..i used to be in love with iphone and made sure i proved my point to everyone around me..but yes ill probably never register in a blog to tell it to the world
Well I am a current blackberry user and before I heard about this phone I was planning on switching to the iPhone. However this phone did give me a new outlook on things. I plan on buying this phone next week when it comes out at the $500 price and will hold on to it and if it fully convince me I may not switch at all. It is about time they upgraded the internet and I actually thought about this exact idea 3years ago when I had the original curve I should have patented it because now it came to life. So I will definitely see if it is worth it.
considering the 9650 and the storm 2 has open gl. i cannot fathom why they didn’t bother doing the same with the torch.
this would have been the catalyst of getting more of those ‘play things’ that you see on iphone and to a lesser extent android.
otherwise it is a ‘rimarkable’ phone. finally a hybrid that i can finally get my hands on that is a blackberry.
hopefully rim dont make that same mistake with the storm 3 (with surepress) and perhaps even a torch 2 (touchscreen device with capacitive touch to please the other users)
hey if i buy a blackberry torch in $99 with 1 year contract from AT&T , do i have to pay $15 every month as an installment ?
DAMN 500 dollars!? gawd! I thought my contract was supposed to end Dec 2010 but then when i went to the blackberry place they said “no its Dec 2011 now gtfo” I jizzed a little when i saw the new torch now im stuck with a fail old blackberry pearl that is soooooo outdated. I hate contracts.