14 DAY TRIAL // About a month ago, Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion announced the release of new handsets running under the BlackBerry 7 OS, and the BlackBerry Torch 9860 was one of them.
The company has already made the new device available for purchase in various markets around the world, and also brought it along at IFA 2011 in Berlin, where Softpedia's editors snapped a few photos of it.
The BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone is the successor of RIM's Storm series, featuring the same candybar design with a large touchscreen display on the front.
Unlike the previous devices, the new mobile phone comes with an even larger screen, at 3.7-inches, capable of delivering a 480 x 800 pixels 253ppi high-resoultion.
The screen is powered by Liquid Graphics Technology, while the entire mobile phone runs on a 1.2GHz application processor, the same as other new BlackBerry 7 OS-based handsets do.
The mobile phone also features 768 MB of RAM, along with 8 GB of internal memory, complemented by a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.
In addition to HSDPA 14.4 Mbps / HSUPA 5.76 Mbps capabilities, the BlackBerry Torch 9860 also features Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP connectivity, as well as microUSB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and built-in GPS receiver.
RIM placed a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the phone's back, with auto focus and HD video recording capabilities, and also included great multimedia playback capabilities with the device, as well as fast Internet browsing.
This last feature is powered by the new BlackBerry 7 OS, which also delivers improved Universal search, or the possibility to keep the personal and work lives separated on the same device.
RIM's BlackBerry Torch 9860 measures 120 x 62 x 11.5 mm and weighs in at 135 grams, while packing a Li-Ion 1230 mAh battery that can deliver up to 7 hours of talk time, or up to 330 hours of standby time.
The handset also offers support for various applications that can be downloaded from the BlackBerry App World, as well as for mobile services available for RIM's BlackBerry smartphones.
The new device also features world connectivity capabilities, with support for Dual-Band CDMA 2000 1x EV-DO Rev A 800/1900 MHz and Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, along with Single-Band UMTS 2100 MHz and Tri-Band UMTS/HSPA Networks: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz (UMTS Bands 1,2,5/6) and 2100/1700/900 MHz (UMTS Bands 1,4,8).
Note: Fellow editors Cosmin Vasile and Sorin Nita are on the floor at the 2011 IFA Show and are keeping us posted with pictures and live reports on the latest product previews and launches.
