A 'Torch' that's all screen
BB drops the physical keyboard for its Torch 9860
If you’re a fan of the BlackBerry chat service but less enamoured of the smart phone’s small keyboard, the BlackBerry Torch 9860 is the mobile for you.
Unlike the conventional BB phone with QWERTY keyboard and smallish screen, Torch 9860 comes with 3.7-high resolution touch screen and does away with the physical keys.
Touch 9860 runs on the much-improved BlakBerry 7 Operating System and it is powered by QC 8655 1.2 GHz processor. Although it is a single-core processor, I didn’t pick up any signs of sluggish performance during the test. It has 768 MB of active memory and 4 GB of storage, upgradable with a microSD card up to 32 GB.
Torch 9860 supports HSPA 3G connection at 2100/1900/850/800 MHz and supports quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks at 850/900/1800/1900 MHz.
It comes with 5 megapixel camera that took beautiful and good quality photos for a mobile phone. The photos could easily be uploaded to a social network like Facebook too.
During the test, I found Torch 9860 performed smoothly. I managed to update my status and check feeds on my Facebook and Twitter pages smoothly while on the go.
Pre-loaded games also ran smoothly and YouTube clips ran fast. Its music player application rendered great sound and it comes with a 3.5mm stereo jack for use with premium headphones.
The new BlackBerry 7 OS has several new features and useful applications.
Among other things, BlackBerry 7 browser works faster, providing more fluid web browsing experience. The browser includes a new JIT (just in time) JavaScript compiler to improve the load time speed of web pages and it offers optimised HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.
Torch 9860 also has built-in support for Augmented Reality. With the Wikitude Augmented Reality application, you can find nearby BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) contacts in real-time, read reviews on restaurants close to them, or get the story behind an interesting landmark and points of interest.
BlackBerry 7 OS’s Liquid Graphics displays provide a truly brilliant picture, keeping everything that you do crisp, sharp, and easy to read. The Liquid Graphics displays also help reading e-books on Torch 9860 easier with crisp text.
Torch 9860 comes with several useful pre-installed applications. One of them is Documents To Go, which allows you to create and edit Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint documents.
Its Social Feeds application is really good, integrating all services, including BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger in one place.
Torch 9860 has a suggested retail price of Bt15,990.
Key specs
_ Platform: BlackBerry 7 OS
_ Network: Tri-Band UMTS/HSPA 2100/1900/850/800 MHz; Quad Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
_ Processor: QC 8655 1.2GHz
_ Display: 3.7-inch 800x480 WVGA pixel Transmissive TFT LCD
_ Memory: 768 MB RAM
_ Storage: 4GB eMMC, expandable up to 32 GB with a microSD memory card
_ Camera: 5MP, 720p HD video recording
_ Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, GPS
_ Battery: 1230 mAh removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery
_ Dimension: 120 x 62 x 11.5mm
_ Weight: 135g
