14 DAY TRIAL // While most carriers hurry to launch the newest BlackBerry 7 smartphone recently announced by Research in Motion, MTS releases a white version of the BlackBerry Torch 9800.
The smartphone is now available for purchase at regional carrier MTS for as low as $99.99 with a new three-year contract.
However, the carrier stated that the phone's price will be dropped next week to $49.99, which makes a better deal.
MTS has additional pricing options for the Torch 9800, thus customers can purchase the smartphone for $249.99 with a new two-year plan or $474.99 with a new one-year agreement.
There's also a suggested retail price that customers who wish to avoid being tied by a long-term contract must pay $629.99.
Blackberry Torch 9800 is powered by a 624 MHz processor and runs on the Blackberry 6.0 platform, which introduces a new touch interface, full web browser and Universal Search.
The slider offers users an enhanced multimedia experience thanks to its 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and 360 x 480 pixels resolution.
Advanced messaging is another area where the Torch 9800 excels thanks to its full QWERTY keyboard and BlackBerry Push technology.
Other key features of the smartphone include optical trackpad, multi-touch input method, proximity sensor for auto turn-off, 3.5 mm audio jack, HSDPA and HSUPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support,
In addition, the Torch 9800 packs 4 GB of internal memory, 512 MB of RAM, 512 MB of ROM, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB, 4GB card included).
Users can take decent pictures, as the smartphone sports a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, continuous auto-focus, image stabilization and video capabilities (VGA@24fps).
The phone drains its power from a Li-Ion 1300 mAh battery rated by the manufacturer for up to 432 hours standby (up to 336 hours for 3G) or 5 hours 30 minutes talk time (up 5 hours 40 minutes for 3G).