There's always some new phone on the market trying to beat the iPhone, and today's offering is the BlackBerry Torch--RIM's latest attempt at competing with both Apple and the Android market. The phone, like the iPhone, will be tied to AT&T--but can it hold down the fort when AT&T's exclusive iPhone contract ends?
The Torch will be running the new BlackBerry OS 6, has a full web browser (Blackberry's first), social networking integration, universal search, and a 5-megapixel camera. The phone is equipped with an iPhone-esque touch screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
While the phone sounds solid enough, we're skeptical that it's the iPhone killer people claim it may be. After all, aside from the camera, none of the features are anything even old generation iPhones don't have. Plus, at least from the promotional video, the screen looks small and low-res, and the design is nowhere near as sleek as the iPhone 4, or even the Droid Incredible. Not to mention pull-out QWERTY keyboards are soooo 2006.
We'll wait until we hear the actual hardware specifications of the Torch to pass full judgement, but for now we're far from convinced that it's an iPhone killer. But, if you're interested, it will be available on August 12 for $199.99 with a two-year AT&T contract.
Via 9 to 5 Mac
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MacMike
August 03, 2010 at 12:42pm
Any touch screen device that has a pull out keyboard is an immediate "fail". It shows the manufacturer doesn't fully grasp the implications of having a touch screen display where you can have essentially any keyboard you want configurable by software. I'm surprised this thing doesn't include a modem port as well. That's another great 90's legacy interface.
