9800

mobile
March 28, 2011
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AT&T intros spring smartphone sale

By on March 28, 2011 at 11:28 PM.

AT&T intros spring smartphone sale

On Monday AT&T announced its spring smartphone sale that includes five current smartphones all priced below $100. AT&T is selling the Samsung Captivate, which sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.2 (Froyo), and a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, for $99.99. Similarly, it’s selling the BlackBerry Torch 9800, the Samsung Focus, and the LG Quantum for $49.99 each. Lastly, the BlackBerry Curve 3G is on sale for just $29.99. You’ll need to sign on for a new two-year contract with AT&T to take advantage of the sale price, and AT&T says the offers are available both online and in company-owned retail stores nationwide. It’s unclear how long the sale will last. Hit the jump for the full release, which includes descriptions of each phone. More →

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mobile
December 24, 2010
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Canadian BlackBerry Torch Giveaway!

By on December 24, 2010 at 5:45 PM.

Canadian BlackBerry Torch Giveaway!

Ahoy there Canadian readers! Dreaming of a Torch-white Christmas? Your friends at Rogers Wireless were kind enough to provide your pals at BGR with one albino BlackBerry Torch to giveaway to you, our beloved readers from up north.

As most of you know, the Torch is RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry to also feature a full-QWERTY keyboard — the device also boasts a 5 megapixel camera, 512MB of RAM, and BlackBerry 6. So, how do you win yourself this BlackBerry Torch? Simple:

  • To enter, drop a comment below letting us know why you want need this device.
  • Follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook (optional but it can’t hurt your chances).
  • The giveaway will run until December 31, 2010 at 11:59PM ET.
  • You must be a Canadian resident, 18 years of age or older.
  • Please comment once and only once. Multiple comments will result in an instant disqualification.

Good luck, and thanks again to Rogers for providing us with the goods!

UPDATE: Congrats to our winner David M., and thanks to all those who entered!

1,069 Comments
mobile
November 11, 2010
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AT&T cuts BlackBerry Torch price in half; now $99.99

By on November 11, 2010 at 2:22 AM.

AT&T cuts BlackBerry Torch price in half; now $99.99

AT&T has slashed the price of its flagship BlackBerry smartphone in half. The BlackBerry Torch, which became available in August 2010, is RIM’s first smartphone to feature both a touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keypad. It was also the first BlackBerry to launch with RIM’s new OS, BlackBerry 6. It initially hit store shelves at $199.99 and after roughly three months, the Torch is now available for $99.99 with a 2-year contract. A price drop after this length of time is not necessarily an indication of poor sales, as several blogs have speculated, though many analysts agree that sales have been less than spectacular. At it’s new price point, which is below the magical $100 mark, AT&T clearly hopes that the BlackBerry Torch will finally spread its wings this holiday season. More →

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mobile
November 10, 2010
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BlackBerry Torch Giveaway!

By on November 10, 2010 at 9:45 AM.

BlackBerry Torch Giveaway!

Our friends over at RadioShack sent us a quick note letting us know that they recently sold their one-millionth BlackBerry device. How should The Shack celebrate such a milestone, you ask? By giving away BlackBerry 1,000,001 to a BGR reader of course! Alright… maybe this isn’t BlackBerry one-million-and-one, but we’re pretty sure that doesn’t matter all that much.

As most of you know, the Torch is RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry to also have a full-QWERTY keyboard — not to mention the first handset to be officially blessed with BlackBerry 6. So, how do you win yourself this BlackBerry Torch? Simple:

• To enter, drop a comment below letting us know why you want need this device.
• The giveaway will run until November 18th at 11:59PM ET.
• You must be a U.S. resident and be 18 years of age or older.
• Please comment once and only once. Multiple comments will result in an instant disqualification.

Good luck! And thanks again to RadioShack!

UPDATE: Congrats to our winner M.P.A.!

1,996 Comments
mobile
November 8, 2010
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BlackBerry Torch 9800 Pure White unboxing

By on November 8, 2010 at 5:27 PM.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Pure White unboxing

You thought we’d let the Great White Hype go without an unboxing? Nope! We have RIM’s flagship BlackBerry device — the Torch 9800 — donned in almost all white armor, and while you would think we wouldn’t have any feedback for just a color change, we do. Here is the deal… our opinion of the white iteration of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 is — obviously — subjective, but… to our eyes it does look incredibly clean. If only the entire handset were white, we’d be in love. RIM kept the main frame of the device in soft touch black and this includes the camera lens cover on the rear of the handset. It breaks up the aesthetics of the device and we’d have loved if “Pure White” meant purely white. One huge, glaring problem with the all white Torch that we can’t seem to move past? When using the device in dark lighting conditions, the backlit buttons are blurry. This seems to be because of there being no “backing” on the underside of the keyboards keys. It’s hard to explain, but it is ridiculously, mind-blowingly annoying, and is actually preventing us from switching to the lust-worthy BlackBerry 9800 Arctic Winter edition. Don’t just listen to us break it down for you textually, though, we have our unboxing photos all ready to go in our BlackBerry Torch 9800 Pure White gallery below!

24 Comments
General
September 3, 2010
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Bell Mobility to launch BlackBerry Torch too

By on September 3, 2010 at 11:21 AM.

Bell Mobility to launch BlackBerry Torch too

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 might be exclusive to one carrier in the U.S., but that hasn’t stopped the floozy of a handset from making the rounds in Canada. Bell Mobility recently announced that they too will be carrying the BlackBerry Torch slider — which we knew – beginning on September 24th. The device will retail for $199 on a 3-year contract and $599 off-contract. This brings the total number of Canadian networks launching the 9800 on September 24 to four: Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Virgin Mobile. Bell hasn’t put out an official press release yet, but we have a statement for you after the break. More →

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General
September 1, 2010
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Rogers launching BlackBerry Torch on September 24

By on September 1, 2010 at 12:59 PM.

Rogers launching BlackBerry Torch on September 24

Rogers has just announced that they will be carrying the BlackBerry Torch 9800 beginning on September 24th. The device will be available on rogers.com or in-stores for $199 with a 3-year contract. The company quips, “As we approach the launch, you can stay on top of the latest updates by signing up at www.rogers.com/torch.” We’re not sure we would want to be married to this particular (or any?) device for three years, but there you have it. There is a video of BlackBerry’s Director of Marketing, explaining why this device is so cool, after the break. More →

26 Comments
Featured
August 11, 2010
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BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review

By on August 11, 2010 at 9:42 AM.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review

RIM’s mythical sliding device finally got official after years and years of rumors. It’s being released tomorrow exclusively on AT&T and features the all new BlackBerry 6 operating system. We’re talking multitouch, gestures, redone multimedia applications, and a whole lot more. It packs the best camera of any BlackBerry, a touch screen, full keyboard, and even an optical trackpad to help with navigation. Not to mention it has a web browser that is actually usable, and everything is packed in a pretty tight package. We have been using a BlackBerry Torch 9800 for over 5 days, and we’re excited to share our thoughts on it with you. More →

291 Comments
Featured
August 6, 2010
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BlackBerry Torch 9800 hands on… again

By on August 6, 2010 at 12:35 PM.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 hands on… again

Alright guys, we finally have a BlackBerry Torch 9800 in hand, before launch date, and we figured we’d do the second honors on your behalf. We have chimed in with our first-hand impressions of the new BlackBerry, but now that we have a unit in front of us again, here are a couple more quick thoughts:

  • Again, the device is really solid. Construction seems high quality, though there is obviously a “plastic” feel as opposed to something more luxurious. Like metal (aluminum, stainless steel). The rubberized back battery cover, while kind of scares me at first, feels really good when you hold the phone. It’s not overly rubbery, it is something that will probably save many Torch owners from flinging the device out of their palm while carrying it around.
  • The screen is depressing. I personally think at this point in time, there is no excuse. It instantly makes the phone not feel competitive, and doesn’t encourage you to use the phone. In fact, it makes me not even want to use the device. Not sitting next an iPhone 4 and a DROID X — no way.
  • Love the keyboard. I’m already able to bang out my 80 WPM emails (most likely ones yelling at Andrew).
  • Will reserve full thoughts on the OS and UI for our review, but the phone really does feel a bit busy as I mentioned earlier. One of BlackBerry’s strengths has been providing users with that “always connected” feel, but I really think they might have taken it too far with the BlackBerry 6 OS.

While we put together the full review, we have to ask — who’s getting one, and who’s passing?

Click on over to our BlackBerry Torch 9800 gallery!

280 Comments
General
August 5, 2010
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BlackBerry 9800 Torch to be carried by Bell, Rogers, Telus, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone U.K.

By on August 5, 2010 at 2:21 AM.

BlackBerry 9800 Torch to be carried by Bell, Rogers, Telus, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone U.K.

It looks like RIM is going to be sending the BlackBerry Torch 9800 up north and across the pond. The Globe and Mail is reporting that Canada’s three largest wireless carriers — Bell, Rogers, and Telus — all will be carrying RIM’s latest creation in the not-so-distant future. Rogers has officially confirmed the Globe’s report with a press release saying they will have the 9800 in the “coming weeks,” and Virgin Mobile — in true hipster fashion — tweeted about it. Vodafone U.K. also has a splash page up for the new BlackBerry touch-screen slider device. Anyone north of the border or across the pond have plans to pick one of these bad boys up? More →

26 Comments
Retail
August 3, 2010
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AT&T mystery retail displays contain BlackBerry Torch 9800

By on August 3, 2010 at 11:59 PM.

AT&T mystery retail displays contain BlackBerry Torch 9800

Just a quick follow up to a post we wrote up last night. The mysterious cylindrical displays that were showing up at select AT&T stores across the country were in fact for the newly minted BlackBerry Torch 9800. There isn’t much else to report, but we thought we should close the loop. Anyone have a local AT&T store with one of these bad boys setup?

58 Comments
Featured
August 3, 2010
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BlackBerry Torch 9800 hands on

By on August 3, 2010 at 2:18 PM.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 hands on

We wrapped up the RIM and AT&T event with some hands on time with the just-announced though hardly-a-secret BlackBerry Torch 9800. Here are some first impressions:

  • The hardware (casing, build quality, feel) is typical RIM — it’s great. Very solid, actually a bit heavy, but a very good feel. The sliding mechanism is top notch.
  • The software is typical RIM — uninspired, old, clunky sometimes, and cluttered. Even with the new UI elements in OS 6, we experienced choppiness in the web browser, hangs navigating between screens, and a general feeling of well… claustrophobia on occasion. The simplified BlackBerry now sort of feels like too much has been added without thinking of the ramifications.
  • The keyboard is perfect — just like a Bold 9700, and it seems to not be dug in the slider mechanism, unlike the Palm Pre.
  • The internals of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 are disappointing. From the 624MHz CPU to only 512MB of RAM, to  (sorry, confused RAM with built-in storage) the 1300mAh battery, it has us a little worried as it feels like the hardware is pushed to the max. On a brand new phone. That’s not even out yet.
  • The screen is laughable. For a company that is always “planning three years out” they surely didn’t get the memo that a 480×360, poor, poor LCD wasn’t going to cut it in 2010. That’s the focal point of the entire device, and it makes you feel outdated out of the gate.

All in all, we came away with mixed emotions. On one hand, OS 6 is a much better UI leap from OS 5 than OS 5 was to OS 4, but it still feels a bit not thought out. On the other hand, the device seems like it will continue to excel at specific functions, mainly email, any sort of text-based messaging, etc. My personal thought so far is: this is a stop gap device for current BlackBerry users… and that’s an issue. iPhone 4 or recent Android owners won’t be lusting after the 9800, and that’s never a good thing. We have some images in our gallery for you BlackBerry fanatics to drool over!

Click on over to our BlackBerry Torch 9800 hands on gallery!

242 Comments
General
August 3, 2010
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AT&T BlackBerry Torch 9800, $199 with two year contract, available August 12th

By on August 3, 2010 at 11:53 AM.

AT&T BlackBerry Torch 9800, $199 with two year contract, available August 12th

AT&T has just announced pricing for the Blackberry Torch 9800, the device will retail for $199 with a two-year commitment to Ma’ Bell; putting it in the same price bracket at the Samsung Captivate and 16 GB iPhone 4. You can purchase the new handset starting August 12th at AT&T company owned retail stores or online. What do you think so far? Did RIM cook up a winner? More →

148 Comments