Research In Motion (RIM) officially unveiled the BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone this month. The newest BlackBerry device, known as the Torch 9800, is the first handset from Canadian smartphone manufacturer to run the BlackBerry 6 operating system.

Like most of the BlackBerry range, the 9800 retains RIM's trademark Qwerty keyboard but takes a vertical sliding form factor; allowing for a 480x360 pixel, 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display replacing RIM's ill-fated SurePress system found on the Storm and Storm 2.

The device will be available in the US from 12 August but a UK release date is yet to be confirmed, though a company spokesperson did say that a release announcement and carrier details for the EMEA region will arrive in the coming weeks.

Among its other notable specs the device will offer:

*Up to 3.6 Mbps HSDPA connectivity
*5-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus, digital zoom and facial recognition
*GPS
*Wi-Fi b/g/n support
*624MHz processor
*4GB internal memory, expandable by a further 32GB by using a microSD card
*BlackBerry 6 OS
*Tethering support

The BlackBerry 6 OS features a redesigned home screen (including new icons, graphics and animations), Multitouch support (e.g. pinch-to-zoon) for photos and browsing, graphical context sensitive pop-up menus and a host of redesigned core apps (like a much-improved messaging client) and new YouTube, RSS, and social networking apps. The OS also adds the ability to sync the device over Wi-Fi.

A BlackBerry representative also confirmed that the BlackBerry 6 OS would be present on all future handsets and offered as an upgrade for 9700 and 9105 owners. 

Currenlt the BlackBerry 6 OS devices are  not available in Oman. For full details take a look at the Torch 9800 page on the official BlackBerry website.



HD voice isn't the only technological advancement where VoIP has trumped the traditional telco sector. It's also done the same for video calls, and HD video calls could be next. Telcos have been promising video telephony over fixed lines for decades, and in fact video calling was touted as a chief differentiator for the first 3G services eight years ago. Neither ever really took off for a variety of reasons, from cost and interoperability issues to a clunky user experience and the fact that most users didn't like the idea of being visible during a call. But in fact video telephony has been around for several years if you count Skype's video function.

Skype CEO Josh Silverman told an audience during his CommunicAsia 2010 keynote that video calls accounted for 34% of Skype-to-Skype calls in 2009. "That means that if you look at figures from TeleGeography showing that 12% of all international voice calls in 2009 were Skype calls, that means that 4% of international calls included video," Silverman said.

The next frontier is mobile, and Skype is already exploring that space with Skype Mobile Video for the Nokia N900, which enables Skype video calls over Wi-Fi or 3G to other N900 devices or to PCs, and later to flatscreen TVs with embedded Skype clients. Silverman said it's early days to see how well Skype Mobile Video performs, and that the company is treating it as a learning experience for future rollouts with other devices.
"It will be good to learn from this and find out what our customers' expectations are from mobile video - how they use it, how that's different from the way they use desktop video and how we can make sure they get the experience they want," he said.