Blackberry Torch 9800 White Not lagging behind in many respects!
RIM (Research in Motion) has been keen, of late, to set a few things right so that its smartphones can compete on a more stronger footing with the Android-based smartphones got out by the likes of Samsung and HTC Corporation. The Blackberry Torch 9800 White is a good example of this approach adopted by the Canada-based premier mobile phone company.
Blackberry Torch 9800 White Taking the Right Steps
In the Blackberry Torch 9800 White, RIM to begin with was generous enough to bring out the lighter version of the smartphone handset as well. Along with this diversion, you have the dual enticements of the slider touchscreen as well as the full QWERTY key board in the Torch 9800 White. This is the first smartphone device for which RIM has gone ahead and offered both the things.
More than the Apple iPhone 4.0, it is the Android-based smartphones that RIM needs to watch out for. For one, they are growing in numbers in an alarming rate with each passing day. And secondly they are selling at incredibly low prices. What is more, it is very much smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the HTC Incredible S, etc that come packed with features like the big, big touchscreen, eight mega pixel camera with high definition video shooting ability, fast internet and very sound and efficient social networking enabling set of features.
More than the iPhone it is the Android-based smartphones that is proving to be a hard nut to crack With the Apple iPhoe 4.0, most Blackberry smartphones including the Blackberry Torch 9800 are on, more or less on equal footing. As like Blackberry phones, the Apple iPhones also do not possess big touch sensitive screens as well as very powerful cameras. For that matter, iPhones do not promise all that great a social integration scene as well.
The Blackberry Torch 9800 White was released immediately after the launch of the Blackberry Torch 9800 Black edition in August, 2010. Though the sales initially proved to be a little below expectations, it soon picked up momentum both in the USA and in the UK market place here.
O2, Orange, and Vodafone are among the prominent network service providers who have come forward and selling the Torch 9800 aggressively in the market place here. They have floated in the market place plenty of Blackberry Torch 9800 White contracts and other cheap mobile phone deals. There is simply no dearth of cheap SIM free and pay as you go mobile phone deals. In the USA, AT & T carries the Blackberry Torch 9800 White.
It is now very appropriate for us to take a closer look at the technical specifications that the Blackberry Torch 9800 White carries. This is given in the form of a table that is given below –
|
Technical
Specificatons
|
Blackberry Torch
9800 White
|
|
Dimensions and
Weight
|
48mm x 62mm x
14.6mm (this is true when the device is open) and 161.1 gms
|
|
Battery
|
300 mAhr
removable/rechargeable lithium-ion cell
|
|
Touchscreen and
Display
|
3.2 inch wide HVGA
and 480x360 pixels Synaptics controlled touch screen
Light-sensing, proximity-detecting screen
|
|
Data Input and User
Interface
|
Full QWERTY
keyboard; Portrait SureType. QWERTY, multi tap and landscape
|
|
Operating System
|
Blackberry OS
Version 6.0
|
|
Processor
|
Marvell PXA940
running at 624 MHz and Image System Processor ST Microelectronics
STV0987
|
|
Internet
connectivity and Data Networking
|
3G, Wi-fi, EDR;
802.11 b/g/n Wi-fi; 3.5mm stereo headset, micro USB. Faster web
browsing and more efficient multi tasking
|
|
Camera
|
Five mega pixel
camera with 2.5 x digital zoom, image stabilisation, flash, auto
focus, 11 photo taking modes, and video recording options are al
present in the Tourch 9800 White
|
|
Media Player
|
It is very dynamic
and multi faceted media player that can play back as well as
record in multiple audio and video file formats. The audio files
that it is compatible with includes – MP3, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+,
WMA, AMR-NB, MIDI, Flac, Ogg Vorbis. And the video file formats it
is comforable enough to deal with are – MPEG4, H.263, MPEG4 Part
2 Simple Profile, H.264, WM
|
|
Navigation
|
A-GPS and
Blackberry Maps
|
|
Memory
|
On board 512 MB
storage space and this can be easily hiked to another 32 GB with
the use of the micro SD card
|
|
Social Networking
|
Integrated social
networking provided. You can gather all your social updates from
differnet sites – Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace and also your
RSS feeds all at one place
|
Now, let us concentrate on the individual features and delve on them a little more –
Design and Looks
This is one area where RIM really has put in lot of thought as the slider does move out in smooth buttery motion to reveal the full QWERTY key board along with the optical track pad that is also nicely placed right below the touch sensitive screen. The addition of the touchscreen has not in any way rendered the smartphone more difficult to carry or use. The device, all in all, does look very sleek and still retains the lot of the sturdiness that all Blackberry smartphones have.
Touchscreen and Display
This is one area that has justifiably generated lot of interest And thankfully, the Blackberry Torch 9800 White has not disappointed in this respect as well. Even if it cannot be compared with the high resolution and high definition AMOLED display of some of the Samsung and HTC smartphones, this smartphone does sport a nice display and the images,e tc do appear rather well rounded and crystal clear on its screen. The 480 x 320 pixels does manage to stand out on its own. The liquic graphics display technology does leave its impact in a very positive manner.
Internet and E-mailing
This has always been all Blackberry smartphones forte. And the Torch 9800 White is no exception to this rule. In fact, the presence of the more powerful processor really makes multi tasking on this smartphone handset happen like a breeze. You can still work simultaneously with more than 10 E-mail accounts and also view full web pages. You can also send heavy file attachments with all y our E-mails.
Camera
For a five mega pixel snapper, this one really returns for you some very colourful and visually rich still images and video footage shot. The backing of options like flash, image stabilisation, auto focus, and the 2.5x digital zoom an d last but not the least the option of having 11 photography modes does help in greatly enhancing the quality of the still images and the video clips taken
Absence of an intuitive user interface is very much felt!
Now a word or two about the operating software. The latest version Blackberry OS 6.0 indeed does liven up the situation on many occasions. However, at places where the tweaks are missing, the absence of a highly intuitive user interface or skin like the TouchWiz of Samsung or the highly popular HTC Sense is most certainly felt. These are the places where the device takes more time to respond t the wishes of the user than what is normally taken for such things by other competing phone devices.
This time around, the processor present is also very beefy and is stronger than what you get to see beneath the hood of some of the Bold series and other recent smartphones from Blackberry.
The pricing factor
O2, Orange and Vodafone have put together enough cheap Blackberry Torch 9800 White contracts and other deals for everyone that there simply cannot be any scope for complaints in this regard. There are any number of monthly plans that range from £ 20 per month to £ 35 per month for the maximum period of 24 months that give you the Torch 9800 White for free.
Conclusion
While one has every right to expect only the very best, it is probably not realistic to expect a few typical Android features in a Blackberry. At least not in this phase of its career. If you ignore its relatively small touchscreen size and the fact that it carries only a five mega pixel camera, we do not see the Blackberry Torch 9800 White lagging in any way.
