The BlackBerry Torch 9800 - formerly known as the Bold 9800 - has received an official release date on AT&T Wireless.
AT&T and RIM today took the wraps off the new BlackBerry Torch 9800 (named after the maker of the new BlackBerry Webkit browser, Torch Mobile). The new QWERTY touch slider is the first BlackBerry phone to be powered by BlackBerry OS 6 and to feature App World out-of-box. The official release date on AT&T Wireless is set to August 12 (through AT&T's online and retail stores, as well as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and RadioShack).
BlackBerry Torch Specifications
The BlackBerry Torch sports a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with a HVGA resolution of 480 by 360 pixels. It's also got a vertical slide-out QWERTY keyboard and an optical trackpad. As far as out-of-box memory is concerned, the BlackBerry Torch boasts 512MB RAM, 512MB Flash ROM, 4GB NAND Flash as well as a bundled 4GB microSD card. There's also a 624MHz processor.
The BlackBerry Torch operates on AT&T Wireless' 3G network, as well as offering Wi-Fi Wireless-N and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity. RIM claims a talk time of up to 6 hours and a standby time of up to 13 days, using the 1300 mAh battery included in the sales package. The BlackBerry Torch also gets a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with VGA video recording.
Courtesy of BlackBerry 6 OS, the BlackBerry Torch receives a range of key upgrades in the software department. A new full HTML Webkit browser offers tabbed browsing for accessing multiple web pages at the same time, and the browser supports the popular pinch-to-zoom multi-touch gesture. BlackBerry 6 also gives users a single view for social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Furthermore, a next-generation messaging experience includes group messaging for up to 10 people and locations, while a new universal search is available throughout the BlackBerry experience. Here's a video demonstration of some of these features, as well as an in-depth description of the BlackBerry 6 multimedia experience:
BlackBerry 6 Camera Interface Gets Onscreen Controls
BlackBerry 6 will provide new onscreen controls related to the camera, meaning that you'll no longer need to drill through menus to find what you need (see screenshots below). Users will be able to access and review camera pictures, set popular options and pick from a variety of scene modes, all directly from the camera screen. Scene modes include Auto, Face Detection, Portrait, Sports, Landscape and Party. The video camera application also enables video recording.
BlackBerry 6 Video Interface Integrates YouTube Search
RIM promises that searching through videos on your BlackBerry 6 phone will be a smooth experience with the new thumbnail view. Users can also view videos in various sizes, including Original, Fit to Screen and Full Screen. Videos can also be instantly shared using the new integrated YouTube video uploader (see screenshot below). The new universal search in BlackBerry 6 has also been designed to enable users to search Internet video sites such as YouTube, and higher quality YouTube videos can be watched when using Wi-Fi.
BlackBerry 6 will provide multiple dynamic ways to view and organize photos, aiming to organize thousands of photos intuitively. Photos can for instance be grouped by event or by date (see screenshot below). Users will also be able to view the full picture or a slide show of pictures with transitions. BlackBerry 6 phones with touch support are designed to easily zoom in on an area of interest with the pinch-to-zoom gesture. Users will also be able to select groups of pictures to share, copy, paste or delete.
BlackBerry 6 Music Interface Bets on Album Art
Once you've loaded your music library to your BlackBerry 6 smartphone via BlackBerry Media Sync, the music interface will greet you with album art virtually everywhere, in order to make it easier to recognize your favorite albums. You'll also be able to navigate your music by using the interactive carousel to swipe through the album art. By selecting the current song or album playing, users can also find other files from the same album/artist.
If you're looking for new multimedia content to be added to your phone, BlackBerry 6 will also provide "Explore Music Apps", "Explore Video Apps" and "Explore Picture Apps" functionality from within the media player, directing you to you the respective categories in BlackBerry App World.
BlackBerry Media Sync will also offer more flexibility and let you sync by individual artists or genres. More information on Media Sync will be made available later on.
BlackBerry 6 Integrates New Podcasts Service
BlackBerry 6 will come pre-loaded with the new BlackBerry podcasts service in North America, which is completely mobile (no computer access required) and free. RIM will make more information available soon.
Price and Release Date
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 will be available for $200 with 2-year service agreement on a qualifying rate plan and smartphone data plan required. New smartphone customers may choose from two AT&T monthly data plan options, $15 for 200 MB of wireless data or $25 for 2 GB. Enterprise and small business customers should contact their account representative for pricing details.
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