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BlackBerry Torch 9800 headed to Vodafone in the UK
BlackBerry Torch 9800: hands-on photos and first impressions
BlackBerry Torch 9800: All the official photos
BlackBerry 6: Update headed to Bold 9700 and Pearl 3G
BlackBerry Torch 9800 slider official: BlackBerry 6 is go!
Nintendo 3DS: Kid Icarus designed to avoid eyestrain
HTC Desire: Froyo update incoming on Three
Angry Birds addiction: get a fix on your PSP, PS3, or Nintendo DS
iPhone 4 jailbreak: FaceTime 3G data adds up to just 8 minutes per day
iPad rivals: why the Blackpad makes sense

BlackBerry Torch 9800 headed to Vodafone in the UK

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 10:09 AM PDT

UPDATE: It’s also worth pointing out all the demo BlackBerry Torch handsets at today’s launch were running on O2 SIM cards, although according to the company’s Twitter feed, there’s no announcement being made yet. Looks like Vodafone has sneaked an early lead in the pre-order stakes. [Thanks for the tip @Peebrains!]

We knew the BlackBerry Torch 9800 was headed to the UK, but now the first network here has played its cards. Vodafone will stock the new query touchscreen slider – will anyone else follow suit?

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is set to go on sale on 12 August in the US with network AT&T, but RIM was curiously quiet about an exact launch date elsewhere.

But Vodafone UK has just announced that it will be coming “soon”, in a one line statement to press. You’ll be able to sign up for updates at this here link – it’s currently not live, but we’d expect that to change shortly.

O2 and Three declined to comment when contacted about a BlackBerry Torch 9800 release. We’ve reached out to the other three other major UK networks too (Orange, T-Mobile) and will update when we hear back.

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry and Vodafone

BlackBerry Torch 9800: hands-on photos and first impressions

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 10:03 AM PDT

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is RIM’s first hybrid BlackBerry, packing in both touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard. From the outside, with its keyboard slid out, it looks not unlike the Palm Pre, while closed it’s very similar in design to the BlackBerry Storm 2.

Around the back, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 echoes the design of the most recent BlackBerry Bold. Read on, gawp at our hands-on pictures, and find out how the BlackBerry Torch 9800 performs in the flesh.

Despite a comparatively low clock speed (624MHz), the BlackBerry Torch 9800 is speedy. That’s mainly thanks to the completely re-worked BlackBerry 6 OS humming away inside it. RIM says almost every app has been re-coded from scratch to make BlackBerry 6 lightning fast and more powerful too, and while we can’t honestly say it looks a great deal more attractive, there have been definite functionality improvements.

While BlackBerry OS 5 already boasted respectable Facebook and Twitter apps, they’ve both been sucked into one stream, like Friend Stream on HTC Sense smartphones. Things felt eerily Storm like otherwise, until we fired up the browser. The BlackBerry browser has been behind the times for three years now, but the Blackberry 6 browser on the Blackberry Torch 9800 finally fixes things.

It’s fast, HTML5 friendly, and finally, finally, allows for tab switching. This will undoubtedly change how you use your BlackBerry: the days of waiting to get home to look something up on a site you know doesn’t work on your phone are over.

While we couldn’t test out the Wi-Fi media syncing offered in BlackBerry 6, we did get to test out the new universal search on the BlackBerry Bold 9800. It’s nowhere near as smooth and impressive as that found on webOS, but being able to type to launch an app makes for quicker opening times than burying down through folders every time.

In the hand, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 feels solid. The sliding mechanism is smooth, and locks in nicely. While we like the back of the phone (Which is best described as, er, ribbed), we can’t say it’s much of a looker otherwise. The chrome finish and top remind us of 2006 BlackBerry models more than anything else, and the 3.5mm audio port is still on the side, rather than the top of the handset, which is a big red cross for anyone who carries their phone in their pocket.

The keyboard itself looks almost identical to the QWERTY on the Bold 9700, and it rests above a lip that’s not nearly as sharply as the deadly blade on the Palm Pre. We had a quick go bashing out an email and we’d say it’s not quite as easy to type with as the 9700, mainly because you have to reach down below the front face of the phone to get it. But it’s still better than any physical keyboard on any Android phone, and we’ll save a full verdict for some more thorough speed tests.

The capacitive 3.2-inch touchscreen on the BlackBerry Torch 9800 meanwhile is a revelation for RIM, if one that’s come a few years too late. SurePress is finally gone, though the 3.2-inch, low res 480×360 panel stays, but it’s responsive to all your taps, gentle or heavy.

It looks fine for video and web browsing, but looks suspiciously grainy on the menus and homescreen. We have a feeling this is going to be the biggest stickler for us comeme review time. But the onscreen QWERTY keyboard is eminently usable, and pinch to zoom works on the browser – sometimes smoothly, sometimes staggered, but it’s still better for it.

We’re intrigued by the Blackberry Torch 9800. Physical keyboards still have their place, and to offer one plus a screen slightly bigger than a Garibaldi biscuit, that incorporates a touchscreen browser seems like a great compromise. But with no visible “Wow” factors, whether it can pull converts back from Android and the iPhone however, remains to be seen.

Have a look at the BlackBerry Torch 9800 right here – is it what you were hoping for?

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry

BlackBerry Torch 9800: All the official photos

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 08:31 AM PDT

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is here! Want to get a good gawp at it? RIM's still running through specs in its press conference, but we've rounded up all the official photos of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 for you here. Feast your peepers!

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is RIM's first touch-and-key-equipped BlackBerry. It packs a full QWERTY keyboard as well as a beefy 3.2 inch display with multitouch, packing a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels. It's capacitive too, which should mean it's responsive (although we'll know for sure when we get our hands on it shortly).

From these photos, you can see the BlackBerry Torch 9800 looks a little like the BlackBerry Storm, crossed with the BlackBerry Bold. The styling of the BlackBerry Torch 9800's rear is straight from the BlackBerry Bold playbook too, albeit with some ribbed texturing for extra grippiness.

Inside there's HSDPA support for 3.6 Mbps (assuming you're stood next to a base station), as well as GPS and n-standard Wi-Fi. Around the back there's an iPhone 4 matching 5 megapixel camera, with autofocus, digital zoom and the face recognition we spied in RIM's BlackBerry 6 demo videos.

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 also bakes in a fair slice of memory. There's 4GB internal storage and support for micro SDHC memory cards, meaning it can be expanded with an extra 32GB. Again, this makes the maximum memory inside the BlackBerry Torch 9800 an iPhone-battering 36GB.

Running it all is a 624 MHz processor. That's slower than the likes of the HTC Desire and iPhone 4, but it's running RIM's new BlackBerry 6 OS, so benchmarks will be tricky to pin down.

But enough specs, let's get on with the gawping. See the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in all its glory in our photo gallery above!

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry

BlackBerry 6: Update headed to Bold 9700 and Pearl 3G

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 08:23 AM PDT

BlackBerry 6 debuts in just under a week on the new BlackBerry Torch 9800, but RIM’s got some great news for existing customers. The new OS will land on several existing Berries, and we’ve got the lowdown on them right here.

BlackBerry 6 brings several new features to RIM’s handsets that should please smartphone obsessives. Alongside a new browser, with support for multiple tabs, there’s new media features including a podcast app, and even Wi-Fi media syncing (Something the iPhone doesn’t have). It’s launching on the touchscreen BlackBerry Torch 9800, but RIM has now confirmed, as it previously hinted, that BlackBerry 6 will be hitting a few existing, QWERTY BlackBerrys too.

In the US, the BlackBerry 9650 will get BlackBerry 6, but the big news for UK owners is that both the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and BlackBerry Pearl 3G will be receiving BlackBerry 6 updates in the “months ahead”.

There’s no word of an exact release, date, whether it will be free, and RIM says it’s dependent on networks playing ball, but that’s still great news for current BlackBerry users lumbered with RIM’s awful, awful web browser.

We’ll be going hands on with BlackBerry 6 shortly, at least on the BlackBerry Torch 9800, so stay tuned.

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry

BlackBerry Torch 9800 slider official: BlackBerry 6 is go!

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 08:08 AM PDT

The BlackBerry Torch 9800: that’s the name of that mystery slider phone we’ve seen in repeated links over the last few months, and as expected, it’s running the revamped BlackBerry 6 OS. It’s just been unveiled at a launch event in New York, and we’ve got all the details on it right here.

While the iPhone and Android have been hoovering up all the attention in the smartphone space of late, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 is RIM’s big bet to catch up and assure its number one spot for suits and chatty teens alike. As expected, it combines the best of both worlds, with a 3.2-inch, 480×360 juicy touchscreen, and a slide out QWERTY keyboard underneath that looks very similar to the fantastic pad of the Bold 9700.

Under the bonnet, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 packs Wi-Fi, GPS, a 624MHz CPU, and 4GB of onboard storage - not a huge amount, but still a first for a BlackBerry. There’s also a 5-megapixel camera onboard, another improvement over any previous ‘Berry.

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 isn’t just about new hardware. It’s the first ‘Berry to run BlackBerry 6, RIM’s overhauled software. It’s been far too long, but it looks like RIM has finally fixed the browser, endowing the BlackBerry Torch 9800 with a WebKit browser capable of opening more than one tab at a time – at last!

We’re also expecting all the other tweaks we’ve seen in prior BlackBerry 6 videos, including pinch to zoom gestures, and an app for sucking in all your Twitter and Facebook feed updates.

We’re heading off to meet RIM folk shortly, so stay tuned: we’re hoping for a BlackBerry Torch 9800 slider hands on session, and we’ll bring you all the photos and details just as soon as. It’s out in the US on 12 August, and we’re chasing for a UK launch date ASAP.

UPDATE: The BlackBerry Torch 9800 launches in the US on 12 August, but a RIM UK spokesperson has just confirmed UK availability. “You’ll see a series of announcements across EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Asia) in the coming weeks,” he told journalists at a launch event in London.

Check out our Blackberry 6 demos:
Blackberry 6 new media capabilities
Blackberry 6 new pinchy skills

What do you think? Can the BlackBerry Torch 9800 make you forgive RIM for the Storm? Shout up in the comments below and stay tuned for plenty more coverage!

Out TBC | £TBC | BlackBerry

Nintendo 3DS: Kid Icarus designed to avoid eyestrain

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 08:02 AM PDT

While we wait for the Nintendo 3DS release date to be revealed in September, Kid Icarus mastermind Masahiro Sakurai has teased some details a about Kid Icarus Uprising. He’s been spilling some of the secrets behind creating the game for the 3D handheld and there’s good news for sensitive folk – he’s designed it to fight eyestrain…

Talking to CVG about the potential provided by the 3D smarts of the Nintendo 3DS, Sakurai explained that the extra-dimension simply adds to the game rather than being a vital component: "It's a case of personal preference of how you like to use 3D…people who have adverse effects to 3D – they might get tired eyes – can switch it off entirely. It just adds that extra flexibility for gameplay richness."

As well as expecting gamers to use the Nintendo 3DS slider to switch to 2D, Sakurai says 3D in Kid Icarus has been deployed to avoid negative effects. He continues: "In my experience of development and actually using [the Nintendo 3DS], when you have a lot of objects flying towards the user I find that's more likely to cause eye strain so during development I'm using objects moving away…which doesn't have that effect."

Sakurai offers the example of bullets in Kid Icarus to explain how the effect will work on the Nintendo 3DS. Rather than seeing them fly in a straight line, he promises you'll see your shots arch and get a sense of depth. He also hints at versus online multiplayer for Kid Icarus on the Nintendo 3DS and confirms that the handheld is "considerably more powerful" than the Nintendo DS.

If you're as excited as us about the arrival of the Nintendo 3DS, make sure you've checked out our Nintendo 3DS hands on and Nintendo 3DS in-depth analysis.

Hit the comments to let us know what Nintendo 3DS games you're most excited about. Is Kid Icarus on your must-have list?

Out 2011 | £TBC | Nintendo (via CVG)

HTC Desire: Froyo update incoming on Three

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 07:20 AM PDT

The HTC Desire Android 2.2 Froyo update started hitting devices at the beginning of the week, but only if they were unlocked. Now we've had word from Three that the Froyo update for HTC Desire owners on Three is on its way.

A spokesperson for Three told Electricpig that the HTC Desire Froyo was getting specially tailored for Three: "Although the HTC Desire update was released for unlocked phones last week, HTC are building a specific version for Three which will take them a few weeks.

"Once we have this version it will be tested, approved by Google and then rolled out to customers. Although it goes without saying that we will get the update to customers ASAP, it's likely to be towards the end of summer until we can guarantee a problem free version for our customers.

News that the much anticipated HTC Desire Froyo update could be held back by a month or more will be a major disappointment to HTC Desire users on Three.

If you're on Three, and are waiting for the Froyo update to hit your HTC Desire, drop us a line in the comments to what you think about the news that you'll have to wait over a month longer than other users.

Are you one of the lucky few to have the HTC Desire Froyo update? How is it so far?

Angry Birds addiction: get a fix on your PSP, PS3, or Nintendo DS

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 07:03 AM PDT

That's right, Angry Birds will be making its way onto new platforms, including the PSP, PS3 and Nintendo DS, but are you addicted enough to stump up for what probably won’t be a 59p game on any of those consoles…?

As yet there are no dates or prices available, but we're waiting on word about what stages of the development new Angry Birds formats are at.

Sales of Angry Birds on the iPad and iPhone have hit £2 million, and with 100 levels, it's certainly long enough to exist as a full length, but is it too simple to be fleshed out and still be just as addictive?

Chillingo Co-founder Joe Wee, 35, whose company markets the games, leaked the info to The Sun: “When it was released last December Angry Birds made a slow start but as word got round, everyone’s gone crazy for it,” he said. “We are also releasing it on Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and PS3.”

The news that Angry Birds might be appearing on the PS3 is perhaps the most baffling. What sort of conversion could justify using the capabilities of the PS3? What Wee might be alluding to is the game joining the PlayStation Network.

Would you pay for a fleshed out PSP or Nintendo DS version of Angry Birds, or does its key appeal lie in a quick and easy mobile format? Drop us a line in the comments…

iPhone 4 jailbreak: FaceTime 3G data adds up to just 8 minutes per day

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 06:32 AM PDT

The iPhone 4 jailbreak finally allows you to make FaceTime 3G calls. But while fooling your iPhone 4 into thinking your 3G connection is a Wi-Fi hotspot is simple, you might want to think twice before you start video chatting yourself into a frenzy. FaceTime 3G calls chew through data faster than an emotionally unstable fat man presented with a pile of pies and a picture of his cheating wife. Read on for how to get FaceTime 3G calls on your jailbroken iPhone 4 and why you might not want to…

After using the iPhone 4 jailbreak, making FaceTime 3G calls is simple as grabbing 3G Unrestrictor or My3G (both of which you can find in Cydia for small fee). Leave the app running in the background when you want to make a FaceTime 3G call and your iPhone 4 will think it's on a Wi-Fi network and place the call.

However, your iPhone 4 data plan won't last very long if you spend too much time making FaceTime 3G calls. Our FaceTime 3G data calculations concluded that the calls use about 4MB of data per minute (2MB upload and 2MB download) depending on how static the video is.

At a rate of 4M per minute, the amount of data used on FaceTime 3G calls will hit 1GB in 256 minutes. That means with the most generous iPhone 4 data plans out there, you'll get 8 minutes per day. That's assuming you don't use your iPhone 4 data for anything but FaceTime 3G nattering.

So while making the odd FaceTime 3G call after using the iPhone 4 jailbreak makes for a geeky party trick, if you don't want to be battered with a big bill, you'd best stick to Wi-Fi.

Let us know: have you tried making a FaceTime 3G call? Or are you waiting until Apple makes video calling over the phone networks legit?

Out now | £varies | Apple

iPad rivals: why the Blackpad makes sense

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 05:40 AM PDT

Of all the iPad rivals we've heard feverish whispering about, the Blackberry Blackpad has the worst codename and, I think, the best chance of success. It isn't about hitting the market and knocking the iPad on its arse. With iPad sales on rocketing towards four million, the Blackpad has to pick its battles but if it does, RIM could be on to a winner…

RIM is set to unveil a bunch of new Blackberry devices packing the Blackberry 6 OS at an event later today and I've got my fingers-crossed that the Blackpad is amongst them. While I've been pretty dismissive of iPad rivals in the past, I think RIM has learned enough lessons to get its take on the tablet right.

We can expect to see more touchscreen Blackberry handsets break cover later. In the wake of the iPhone and its own experience with the Blackberry Storm 2, RIM should deliver a far better take on the technology than it has in the past. A smarter understanding of what makes a touchscreen so appealing is a vital lesson the keyboard kings at RIM need to have learned for the Blackpad to work.

The previous rumours around the Blackpad suggest RIM has consciously built an iPad rival – a 9.7in touchscreen tablet with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and twin front and rear facing cameras. Hopefully the talk of needing to tether your Blackpad with your Blackberry to get 3G will turn out to be result of confused crystal ball gazing.

Though the Blackpad apparently has very iPad-esque specs, it doesn't need to be an iPad killer. The iPad is here, it's not going anywhere and its second generation is likely to come packing the iPad camera and a host of other features that will floor most of its flat-footed rivals.

Where the Blackpad can forge its own place in consumer's hearts is by focusing on what RIM does best with Blackberry. While Apple has made in-roads with IT departments, Blackberry has laid down far more roots at big businesses. The Blackpad should be ultra-simple to add to company networks and make video conferencing easy and secure to set up.

Though the iTunes App Store has a huge lead over Blackberry App World (225,000 vs less than 10,000), RIM should target the makers of the most popular tablet apps and encourage them to develop for the Blackpad. Vast virtual shelves full of apps are only worthwhile if they're also good. Gathering up a solid library of grade-A apps for the Blackpad is not an impossible dream.

Another smart move for RIM would be to harness the incredible popularity of Blackberry Messenger and bring the same kind of always-on IM smarts to the Blackpad. However, if rumours that the Blackberry tablet will arrive with a similar price tag to the iPad are the teens with BBM addictions are unlikely to snap it up.

Ultimately the Blackpad will make sense if it puts the Blackberry 6 OS into a compelling touchscreen package and encourages developers to start cranking out more apps for Blackberry App World. RIM's ability to create powerful and simple to use software is proven but it needs to deliver some sexy hardware to go with it – today's new Blackberry handsets and Blackpad could do just that.

Let us know: do you think the RIM can create a compelling iPad rival with the Blackpad or are its prospects as bad as that name? Throw down in the comments now…

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Wednesday, 4 August 2010

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