We’ve been hearing an awful lot about the U.S. carriers getting OS 7 BlackBerry devices, but not so much about us poor souls up north. Luckily, a few shots of Rogers in-store materials for the new Torch 9810 have slipped out. No mention of pricing, nor if Rogers will be getting the other OS 7 devices soon, like the Torch 9860, but it’s a safe assumption that Rogers and all of the major Canadian carriers (like Bell) will get at least a few of the new smartphones.
Athough the Torch 9810 looks an awful lot like its predecessor, it does bump up the processor speed to 1.2 GHz, improves RAM to 768 MB, and though the screen is still 3.2 inches and camera 5 megapixels, the display resolution is now 640 x 480 (rather than 480 x 360) and the camera can record video at 720p. Some of the cooler tricks we’re seeing in RIM’s next-gen smartphones include the magnetic compass (which enables augmented reality apps), the near-field communications chip (for tap-and-go payments, among other things), and mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. While it hasn’t been officially announced yet, we’re expecting the BlackBerry 9810 to make its public debut soon, and hopefully launch in time for back-to-school.
While I’m a little disappointed that the new Torch looks pretty much identical to the original, there’s very little wrong with the form factor. You get a decent-sized touchscreen and a real physical keypad in a package that isn’t obscenely fat. I still find the top shoulder buttons for lock and mute a little too easy to accidentally activate. OS 7 won’t be light years ahead of the current BlackBerry experience, despite a few refinements, and that stands to be the biggest disappointment so far. Hopefully the 9810 will be enough to tide us over until early next year when dual-core QNX BlackBerry handsets start getting announced. In the meantime, anyone hankering for an upgrade on their old Torch?
[via MobileSyrup]