BlackBerry's Torch gets the OS7 treatment

RIM launched five new BlackBerries at an event in London this morning. We've already seen the new touchscreen Bold 9900 at the BlackBerry World event back in May, so it was the new Torches that caught our attention today.

Running the new BlackBerry 7 operating system, RIM's latest smartphones are all based around a common hardware platform. All the new devices come with 1.2GHz ARM processors and 768MB of RAM. Five-megapixel cameras with 720p video support are standard, and the new BlackBerry OS takes advantage of the hardware with GPU acceleration for improved graphics performance. There's also support for the new BlackBerry Balance tools, which separate work and personal data, helping to manage bring-your-own-device policies.

The London launch saw RIM unveil three new devices in the Torch family, the 9810 slider and the 9850 and 9860 all-touch smartphones. RIM has learned a lot since it launched its original Storm touch devices, and the new touch Torches have responsive high-resolution capacitive screens, with support for familiar gestures and an improved virtual keyboard. The 15:9 ratio 3.7in. display is RIM's largest to date, and with 253dpi it's clear and easy to read. The screen isn't the only input mechanism — the Torch also uses a backlit optical trackpad for additional gestures.


The Torch 9850 mixes an optical trackpad and a full-touch capacitive screen


A 3.7in. 15:9 display gives the touch Torch the largest display on a BlackBerry yet


RIM has made the Torch 9850 a thin and light touch smartphone

Although there's only 4GB of on-board storage, you can add an additional 32GB using microSD cards. We'd certainly recommend putting in at least 8GB of the fast flash memory you can find, especially if you're planning on using the stabilised HD camera for video. Developers will be able to take advantage of the Torch's camera, accelerometer and digital compass to build augmented reality applications. RIM will be bundling the popular Wikitude application with devices, and an update will allow BBM users to see friends online as an augmented reality layer.

The slider Torch has had a major upgrade, with a new 3.2in. 253dpi display. Built around the same platform as the Bold and the touch Torch, the slider has a comfortable keyboard that makes it easy to type when necessary, while still taking advantage of a large responsive touch screen. The Torch slider has 8GB of storage, suitable for a mix of applications and multimedia.


The Torch 9810, showing its keyboard


Closed up, the Torch 9810 is a small touch smartphone


Open it up to see the familiar BlackBerry keyboard

The underlying BlackBerry operating system is much like the preview we saw in May, with support for the familiar BlackBerry applications (including a new version of the BlackBerry Messenger). RIM has been tuning its HTML 5 mobile browser, which has had a significant boost in JavaScript performance. Numbers for the SunSpider benchmark show the Bold 9900 scoring 2.84, substantially faster than competing browsers: the iPhone 4 clocked up 3.23 and the Nexus One 5.22 (the Next S scored 5.86).

RIM has produced a set of interesting devices, with UMTS and CDMA models for world and US markets. They look good, and perform well. As possibly the last BlackBerry OS devices, with RIM's transition to QNX currently underway, they're a rethinking of RIM's flagship products with an eye to the future, while still supporting current users.

Simon Bisson