Over the last day I have been thinking about the BlackBerry Torch 9800 combined with BlackBerry 6 and what it means to RIM. While many of you agreed with my assessment of both yesterday I felt like I wanted to clarify it and simplify what I was trying to get across.
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is definitely “The Best BlackBerry Ever.” I am dying to get my hands on one and I know many of you are in the same position. What I was trying to point out in my previous analysis is that RIM NEEDS to create “The Best Smartphone Ever” if they want to woo customers away from other smartphone options.
The reason I agree that the Torch the best BlackBerry ever is because BlackBerry 6 is a very great improvement on the core functionality in the BlackBerry experience. Die hard BlackBerry fans will be tripping over themselves to get this new upgrade. The Torch will truly give you the best BlackBerry experience to date yet consumers are demanding more. The next generation of smartphones are going to be even more powerful and RIM needs to ensure that BlackBerry 6 gives them the competitive edge they need to stay on top. The new features in BlackBerry 6 are not very easy to highlight to regular consumers who purchase smartphones and are shopping by features and status alone. Just look at the main features highlighted on the BlackBerry Torch homepage:
- Touch and type design
- Visual, fluid interface
- All new browser
- Enhanced Multimedia
- Integrated social feeds
Four out of the five main features are just incremental improvements like enhancing media and combining social feeds. Nothing like Apple’s FaceTime video chat and retina screen and Android’s Mobile Hotspot features. The one thing left is the Touch & Type design yet RIM is not the first to put together a touchscreen slider that has a full keyboard…
What I was trying to point out is that RIM needs to follow through with their commercial tagline for the Torch: “Less an evolutionary leap more of a triple axel.” They either need to start teaching the BlackBerry new tricks beyond the core BlackBerry strengths or they need to move/create a totally new platform and foundation with BlackBerry OS 7.0. The effort RIM put into developing BlackBerry 6 really shows but you can tell that they are building on a foundation that was architected almost a decade ago. It is a credit to RIM that they have managed to make such an amazing platform inside a Java J2ME Virtual Machine but it is starting to look like building an platform in assembly language when compared to the competitions use of Objective C and Java.
RIM might address this by making J2ME more approachable by developers with new tools and SDK’s but what they truly need is to start to transition off the original foundation and start anew. If they can do this in a smooth migration that would be best where they can slowly transition onto a new development platform. That way they are no longer adding features to a operating system that started off as a pager. This will be a very painful move considering how much time RIM has invested in the BlackBerry OS but they need to start moving so they do not get outpaced by the competition. For a company full of engineers they also need to start pumping out BlackBerrys that include the latest cutting edge parts like high resolution AMOLED screens and top of the line processors.
In short what I am trying to say is that BlackBerry 6 is not the future of RIM in 2012. It is a transition period and a stepping stone for them until they have a chance to clean up shop and create “The Best Smartphone Ever” like we know they can.
What do you think?
kman Not Registered
Posted: August 5, 2010 at 11:47 AM EST from my BlackBerry 9000
Agree. While this is a pretty good device, RIMs innovation rate is lagging their competitors, and there is nothing to suggest this innovation gap won’t continue to widen. As a canadian I have the sad feeling our biggest tech company is turning into another Corel… Continuing to boast that it is the best while slowly fading into the twilight. If your biggest fans think you’re in deep trouble, trust me, you’re in very deep trouble.
Right now the only featuring keeping me on board is battery life and the keyboard, and that’s pretty sad. Every thing else about the RIM phones screams obsolescence.
Time to dump that RIM stock. Its been a great ride, but I don’t get any impression that RIM has a sence of urgency about their plight.
SunKast Not Registered
Posted: August 5, 2010 at 12:29 PM EST
I still think a lot of BlackBerry sites are being too soft on RIM. While I do agree that the Torch will be the best BlackBerry to date, it still does not hold a candle to other smartphones that have been using a 1ghz processor for a year now. BlackBerry blogs, and fanatics, continually make excuses for RIM, always saying RIM needs to do something within a certain timeline. But when that timeline comes, such as the 9800, no one is holding RIM accountable for still being behind.
The fact of the matter is that RIM is, and continues to lag behind it’s competition in the consumer world. BlackBerry users who are consumers have been wanting more from RIM for a couple years now. OS 5.0 was supposed to be a great new OS, it didn’t feature anything revolutionary. And now OS 6, which is more of the same. Time and again, RIM releases software/hardware that is behind the times. The Torch with OS 6, would have been competitive against the iPhone and Android devices a year and a half ago.
papped Not Registered
Posted: August 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM EST
I have no idea what sites you are referring to…
Almost every site has had plenty of negative perspective, even places like CB.com on the reviews…
Zuesholmes Not Registered
Posted: August 5, 2010 at 8:05 PM EST
I think the BB OS has been pretty good. My biggest issue has been the web browser which seems like they have fixed. Its a lil slower but scored higher then the other in testing. The BB OS doesn’t need a huge change because each phone OS is 1 of the main things that make the phones what they are. Let Andriod and Apple fight of multimedia and let BB be BB which is a productive phone. The all have there + and – but it looks like Android and Apple are trying to get the same consumers and BB isn’t. I like Androids i bit more then Iphones but i still prefer a BB over both but thats just me and each person has to decide what they want the most and what makes them the happiest.
Decoy Not Registered
Posted: August 6, 2010 at 12:00 AM EST
The Torch and RIM’s current state couldn’t have been summarized better. Great write up!
Mark J. McPherson Not Registered
Posted: August 6, 2010 at 3:28 PM EST
Having had a chance to fiddle with a Torch for a few minutes, I’d agree that it has the chance to be the “best BlackBerry ever”, which doesn’t necessarily mean it will be RIM’s most successful ever. Depends on where the market and the competitor’s are. It appears to be very high quality build, engineered well, but without flourishes. The keyboard is better than I’d expected — very similar to the 9700 but perhaps a more solid over all feel. The touch screen too, was a little better than I’d expected, but that means it has the same strengths and weaknesses as the best of the rest. Too much fluidity can be dizzying and promote over-scrolling.
The screen resolution is more than adequate. If competitors have higher res, unless there is also some performance gain in terms of rendering, than higher res would be almost overkill, at least to these poor eyes. Without a superior screen to do a side-by-side, the Torch screen looks sharp, bright and clear.
The Torch seems to work better, in terms of one-handed use, than any side-slider, or other slider I’ve seen. If the Torch is a transitional base upon which RIM will build future models, I am encouraged. I do share the disappointment on the processor, though. I always go “more is better” when I can. Every time that spinning clock-face pops up, no matter if the cause it some other thing, I’ll be thinking “processor”. OTOH, the Torch is faster across all fronts than any previous BlackBerry, and the more a user operates the thing, the smoother it will become. App memory doesn’t seem to be an issue. Already, out of the box, the Torch is over-crowded with icons and silly programs I will de-ATT-ize at my earliest convenience. I expect that my most critical TPA will soon be available for 6.0, and the new UI and ease of modification will allow me to cast the homescreen in a no-nonsense, business like way. I did take a look at the settings, and it seemed as if there was something like 512 showing on the app memory. I thought that it was for the OS and the apps, so expected half that level.
louna Not Registered
Posted: January 2, 2011 at 6:01 AM EST from my BlackBerry 9800 | OS 6.0.0.246
Blackberry torch is the best smartphone ever for the addict of texts mails or chat! In so in love with it!