BlackBerry OS 7 arrives via new handsets

Published August 9, 2011
By Dorian Nicholson

Late last week, BlackBerry announced the release of a new wave of handsets, each of which would come loaded with BlackBerry 7, Research In Motion's latest version of its mobile operating system. The new version of the BlackBerry OS won't be available for older BlackBerry models, perhaps giving dedicated BB users more incentive to upgrade to the new devices.

The new smartphones, all of which come with capacitive touchscreens, are aimed at a new generation of mobile users that have plenty of options when it comes to high-tech touchscreen devices. Simply being the brand with the most QWERTY-keyboard phones and BBM isn't enough anymore. With the ubiquitous iPhone laying the groundwork for intuitive touchscreen interfaces in mobile devices, there are now plenty of options for smartphone users in devices running either Android or Windows Phone software.

It seems Research In Motion was well aware of the fact that BlackBerry software is falling behind and hardware options are limited at best. With companies like Samsung, LG and HTC offering phones across multiple mobile platforms targeted at multiple price points, RIM has had to step up to the plate and offer some competitive alternatives. It seems now that they've done that.

The BlackBerry Bold line sees to new additions in the 9900 and 9930 devices. Both of these boast the traditional Bold design, including the full QWERTY keyboard. Not only that, but they're 10.5mm thin and pack a 1.2Ghz processor with 768MB RAM. These models may not be perfect phones to run Angry Birds, but they are capable of near-field communications (NFC) to potentially allow you to use your BlackBerry as your wallet.

The new BlackBerry Torch models come in two types. First, there is the Torch 9810, which offers a 3.2-inch touchscreen as well as a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Then there are the Torch 9850 and 9860 models, both of which are purely touchscreen. With 3.7 inches of touchscreen real estate, these phones will hopefully be a hit (unlike the BlackBerry Storm, which flopped). All of these feature 1.2Ghz processors with 768MB of RAM.

Among the improvements to the software include a more visually appealing user interface. There will also be support for faster browsing on the Internet... apparently up to 40 per cent faster than speeds found through BlackBerry OS 6. Both of these features -- and likely some of the other improvements -- are supposedly not available on older BB models because of the new, enhanced hardware.

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