10-29-2010, 01:06 AM
In some ways, RIM has aimed to shoot its own foot this year, releasing smartphones that are functional enough for business, yet offer no new compelling features for anyone else. The BlackBerryTorch 9800 is a step in the right direction, albeit a small step.
However, the competition has been thriving in the past few years; the iPhone 4 provides a sleek design, thousands of amazing apps, and a high-def screen. Recent Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S and the HTC Desire, are also super-smart phones with massive screens, screaming-fast 1GHz processors, and a slick UI.
Can the BlackBerry Torch 9800 push RIM back to the sharp end of the smartphone market? We review the US version of the phone to find out. This slider phone uses an improved touchscreen, but is a faint reminder of the Palm Pre and, in many ways, the BlackBerry Storm 2 which shares the same bulky heft and 3.2-inch screen size.
Unfortunately, the Torch is not particularly suited to the BlackBerry diehards, because the QWERTY keyboard is a bit too small and the processor is too slow to keep up with the finger-clicking productivity apps that BlackBerry users depend on.
Despite being easier to use than the last version, the new BlackBerry 6 OS interface RIM merely borrows some ideas from HTC Sense instead of really overhauling the smartphone platform for a next-generation of business users.
However, the competition has been thriving in the past few years; the iPhone 4 provides a sleek design, thousands of amazing apps, and a high-def screen. Recent Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S and the HTC Desire, are also super-smart phones with massive screens, screaming-fast 1GHz processors, and a slick UI.
Can the BlackBerry Torch 9800 push RIM back to the sharp end of the smartphone market? We review the US version of the phone to find out. This slider phone uses an improved touchscreen, but is a faint reminder of the Palm Pre and, in many ways, the BlackBerry Storm 2 which shares the same bulky heft and 3.2-inch screen size.
Unfortunately, the Torch is not particularly suited to the BlackBerry diehards, because the QWERTY keyboard is a bit too small and the processor is too slow to keep up with the finger-clicking productivity apps that BlackBerry users depend on.
Despite being easier to use than the last version, the new BlackBerry 6 OS interface RIM merely borrows some ideas from HTC Sense instead of really overhauling the smartphone platform for a next-generation of business users.
