BlackBerry Torch 9800, the latest smartphone Canadian handset vendor Research In Motion brought to the market, is set to become available for purchase in Canada on September 24 via at least three carriers in the country.
According to the latest reports around the Internet, Bell, Rogers and TELUS are all getting ready to have the new device on their airwaves starting with that day.
Moreover, two of them already announced officially the price tag of the device, which has been set at $199.99 on a three year contract, and the only one that remains to confirm the move is TELUS.
Although RIM brought the new handset to the market in the US on the network of a single carrier, namely AT&T, it seems that it decided to have it released on more of them in its homeland.
The new Torch is one of the most interesting BlackBerry devices out there, since it is the first such smartphone to pack both a touchscreen display and a QWERTY keyboard, while also being the first of them to include a sliding design.
“The only smartphone to have a BlackBerry keyboard and full touch screen will be available for purchase in-store and on Rogers.com for as low as $199.99 on a three-year term,” Rogers notes on its RedBoard.
When it comes to the other carriers in the country to launch BlackBerry Torch 9800 in September, we should note that Bell announced that it would have the device operating on its HSPA+ network.
“Telus is pleased to bring the BlackBerry Torch to Canadians, which will allow [business and consumer customers] to easily stay connected, entertained and informed wherever they are while running on our blazing fast 3G+ network.” Telus’ VP of Mobility and Solutions, Brent Jonston, said on the matter.
With the release date and the price tag of the new device already officially, all that remains to be done is to see how it can perform when in the wild, and this is what Rogers is trying to show to us in the video below.
As of September 27, Future Shop and Best Buy have them but they're not allowed to sell them to the public. Why? Because the CRTC won't allow them to. Why? Because the CRTC sold out the consumer's interests a long time ago and are now basically a government lobby for the BRaT (Bell, Rogers and Telus) pack. Many cell phone companies still have back to school specials running until the end of September and they don't want to let consumers to take advantage of those sales and get new technology at the same time. Why else would they hold off until October 1, that's right... October 1 (as in the day after September 30th). Way to protect the interests of big business, "regulator".
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