The new Torch finally adds some consumer sexyness to Blackberry without sacrificing the features that have made the Berry indispensable for mobile professionals.
Well, RIM has finally caught on. With its new Blackberry Torch and Blackberry OS 6 it has begun to merge the utilitarianism of the Blackberry with the consumer appeal of competing iOS and Android devices. This makes the Torch the must-have Blackberry because you can finally have your cake and eat it: a sexier Blackberry that doesn't sacrifice the things that make the Berry the smartphone of choice at work.
It's no iPhone, it doesn't have the screen resolution of the Apple device, it doesn't have anywhere near the apps and games. I could go on with some of the criticisms of the Torch from the iPhone and Android fanboys/girls that have appeared on the Net already. What the critics don't get is that most Blackberry owners dread nothing more than having to write a long email on an iPhone on-screen keyboard, and are prepared to live without the Retina displays, 3D icons, high definition cameras and trillions of apps just to keep their physical Qwerty keyboard. Privately, many are p-----d off that RIM hasn't kept up in the "my-smartphone-is-sexier-than-yours" wars, but they'd be happy with just a little bit of candy, maybe a decent-sized mobile browser, for instance and some more games in the app store.
With the Blackberry Torch, RIM has finally looked after the faithful. It actually tried the big consumer touchscreen approach earlier with the Storm, a device which I thought missed the point entirely. It tried to be both iPhone-like (but without the screen res and app ecosystem), and a Blackberry (but without the QWERTY keyboard). In the end, while it was nice to surf the mobile web with, the Storm never temped me from my Blackberry Bold because the on-screen keyboard, like all on-screen keyboards, didn't cut it when I had to write emails of any length when on the road.
But the Torch consigns the Bold to history. It combines the indispensable QWERTY keyboard with a touchscreen that finally lets you turn it on its side and view websites in a big Webkit browser, as you would on many other touchscreen phones. There's now multiple home screens, like on the iPhone and Android phones, and you can interact with some of its apps using touch.
GALLERY
The Torch, right, has similar overall dimensions to the Bold, left, but provides more screen real estate.
Slide the back down...
And out pops the keyboard
But close the keyboard, turn the device sideways, and finally you have a Blackberry with a decent-sized and Webkit-based mobile browser.
Writing on the slide-out keyboard is no different to writing on a standard Blackberry keyboard.
If you want to endure the on-screen keyboard, turn it sideways, and there you have it.
The home screens also work in landscape mode.
The Torch, bottom, is not much thicker than a Bold, even with a slide-out keyboard