Blackberry introduces the Torch

After lots of hoopla, Blackberry officially introduced the not-so-secret Blackberry 9800, aka the Torch. This phone is Blackberry's first touch QWERTY slider, and they really wanted to make some noise with it's release, so they held an Apple-style press conference, complete with mysterious invitations beforehand.

The design of the phone is typical Blackberry. The Torch is basically the keyboard of the Bold strapped onto the Storm. It's got a 480x360 touchscreen, 5MP camera, 801.11n Wi-Fi, and a new Web-Kit browser. The processor is a little disappointing, it's only 624MHz, which isn't horrible, but looks a little outdated compared to the competition.

One of the biggest selling points of the new Torch is the new Blackberry OS. The new OS includes the usual suspects, such as universal search, built-in social networking, an updated media experience, and a new notification system. One new thing is wireless music syncing, which is a nice touch. For the most part, the features in the OS are nothing you haven't seen before.

The Torch will launch August 12 on AT&T for $199 with a two-year contract.

[Blackberry]