RIM BlackBerry Torch 9800 BlackBerry manufacturer RIM has been struggling to keep up with the main innovators at the head of the smart phone pack. So far, it's been keeping pace rather than edging in front. It appears that's unlikely to change with the Torch 9800, which has some very good features, including the latest BlackBerry OS 6, but has a few …
I've been using the torch for a few days now - always used Nokia in the past, although used the curve 8310 storm1/2 and bold 9000 at work.
I've hardley used the pull out keyboard despite being a big fan of qwerty keyboards, even my last two personal devices have had them.
The browser is excellent, social feeds for me RSS feeds and BBM, MSN, Twitter and other social networks is great. The fully integrated Twitter app is great too!
I'm using the 9800 since the day of release, here in the US. Granted, quality of the release-day phones was a bit below par (slider wiggles, my speaker on the phone conked out after 1.5 months), but the phone itself is my business heaven.
All the inboxes i need, within one press of a key to monitor when getting off planes, or keeping up to speed right before boarding. Texting easier than ever before. Browser is amazing, finally up to par with current technologies.
The release-day firmware / rom contained a number of bugs. But thanks to sites the likes of crackberry, new roms were leaked and made public days after launch. It fixed most of the gripes, such as a tinny buzz over the earphones while speaking, volume level of the phone in general, and some other issues.
Battery life is excellent -- almost two days of intensive calling / browsing / emailing.
Of course, AT&T as the only provider for me is not a good thing. Being on the West Coast a lot does mean poor reception / data speeds. Dropped calls galore, close to Los Angeles.
Pry it from my dead cold hands, is all I have to say. And you know what else? No fart apps.
In the US (at least through AT&T) the 9800 does not come with a headphone. It comes with a microfibre cloth, though...
Amazon offered (still offers?) the phone for $100 with a 2 year plan. But still using AT&T as the provider. Not sure if Amazon.co.uk will carry this phone.
And yeah, useful apps like Google Maps, Kindle for Blackberry, ScoreMobile, Yelp, Kayak, Weatherbug, Bloomberg Mobile, Radio Companion. Most of them downloaded through the App Store.
Not doing anything with the 'social media' stuff -- so simply hide it, or uninstall these from your phone altogether. Frees up space on the internal memory of the phone too.
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