RIM has official unveiled their latest smartphone, the Blackberry Torch which sports their latest mobile OS, Blackberry 6.
Overall the BB smartphone looks very impressive, and it looks as if RIM has successfully bridged the gap between the corporate world and the  consumer (something even the mighty iDevice has struggled at).
While the Blackberry Torch is no iPhone killer (then again, what really is?), RIM may have just committed their first mistake, one that brings up memories of another smartphone by the name of Palm Pre.
Despite boasting an elegant design, touch screen and QWERTY keyboard, Palm made the fatal mistake by choosing Sprint as its premier carrier at a time when the network was very unpopular in the US.
Long story short, Palm Pre made its way upon all 4 major US carriers before falling under hard times and being assimilated by HP.
Although the Blackberry Torch will probably convince developers that Blackberry OS 6 is worth committing resources over (provided they fix a few things), RIM’s initial partnership with AT&T could prevent the company from having breakout sales in the US.
Currently AT&T is the sole carrier for the iPhone 4, which has thus far out shined practically every device the carrier supports save the iPad.
Even though the Blackberry Torch does match most of the iPhone 4’s features, it currently lacks Retina Display and FaceTime video calling (the latter which Microsoft may adopt for its Windows 7 Phone).
This will probably not convince many AT&T users to give RIM a second thought, let alone others on rival networks due to AT&T’s lack of widespread 3G signal.
Is the Blackberry Torch impressive? Yes, and its introduction into the Blackberry universe will help keep RIM relevant in the age of smartphones.
But unless RIM is able to move their device to other carriers quickly (or convince corporations to buy en mass), then the Blackberry Torch’s days may be numbered even before the smartphone hit the stands.
Originally posted on August 3, 2010 @ 2:02 pm