BlackBerry Torch 9810 review

Design

The 9810 is practically the spitting image of the 9800 forebear. It looks the same, feels the same and measures the same, save for some very minor changes, such as the colour of the controls under the display. It is a slider, with the display sliding upwards to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard of the tried and tested BlackBerry formula.

It's somewhat chunky by modern standards, weighing in a 161g and measuring 111 x 62 x 14.6. Given that this is a slider device, we're not too worried about the size as it slips easily enough into any pocket or bag.
What's more of a concern is one of the points that irritated us about the last edition of this phone and that's the screen lock button on the top of the phone. The action is so soft that it will easily unlock itself in your pocket. On a non-touch phone that's not much of a problem, but we've pulled the phone out to find it setting new appointments, browsing the Internet, and even having changed the language to Greek.

Given the design there aren't too many sensible locations to place the 3.5mm headphone jack. On the side it juts out, meaning that the Torch never really sits comfortably in your pocket. If anything, this device is a questionable choice for sliding into the hip pocket of your jeans, because you'll catch the headphones, unlock the device and email your ex in the process.
On our previous review sample we found that the sliding action of the screen gave us a little wobble on every tap. This didn't appear to be a problem on our 9810, but we did find the plastic back panel would creak. The 9810 won't win any prizes for build or design, but aside from the ridiculously soft lock key, we can't complain too much.

Those upgraded parts

We don't want to spend too much of this review talking about the older version of this phone, but let's just say that RIM have addressed some of the major points of concern from a hardware point of view. The screen sees its resolution bumped up to 640 x 480 pixels, a welcome step-up meaning this is a sharper Torch, but with rival platforms pushing higher definition displays, the 9810 lacks impact and sharpness.
The OS fits well on the display as the icons aren't overcomplicated so the lack of resolution doesn't really matter, but it does mean that browsing the Internet involves more zooming and images don't looks as sharp as they could.

But we find ourselves wondering if the new 1.2GHz processor and upgraded 768MB RAM make that much of a difference. Sure, you can now capture 720p video thanks to the extra power to crunch the captured data from the 5-megapixel camera, but it's not the hardware that's explicitly at fault, it's the software.

BB OS showing its age

For several years we've been remarking that BlackBerry OS needs to start stepping forwards. There are some great things, and a great heritage, behind BlackBerry, but the pace at which its rivals are evolving doesn't shine a favourable light on BlackBerry. But this isn't news. Where BB6 made a few visual tweaks, BB7 makes a few more, but not so many that you'd really notice.
We often found that we'd touch the screen to drag or scroll the tray of apps and found it wouldn't respond. Finger tracking isn't great and dragging and scrolling things like webpages isn't as smooth or successful as it should be. Too often we'd be heading off to an extraneous link, rather than scrolling. This applies in apps and menus too, so we'd often resort back to the optical trackpad, or keyboard shortcuts.
The way we use current devices now plays a part here. The fewer apps you have on your platform, the more people are going to need to use the browser to access online services. Although the browser is much better than it was prior to BB6, it still doesn't match those native browsers of iPhone or Android in daily use.
The biggest problem we had was stability; it would frequently fail or refuse to load a page and it would regularly freeze, rendering the phone unresponsive, so we had to pull the battery to get things going again. BlackBerry users are probably all-too familiar with battery pulls and upgrading the hardware in this model doesn't seem to have got round this problem.

Of course the jewel in the crown is email, and stepping into the BlackBerry world from regular Android and iPhone use reminds us of just how convenient and powerful the BB email system is. The speed, the searching the ease with which you can communicate via email is fantastic.
However, the keyboard on the Torch isn't a patch on the Bold keyboard, or even that of the Curve. It's slightly too recessed into the body of the base of the phone so it feels like a strain to use. The on-screen QWERTY keyboard is poor too. Where other on-screen keyboards will let your fingers fly, the BB keyboard seems to struggle to follow what you're trying to type, even on this relatively large screen. As such, it’s much better to use the compact keyboard in portrait, because it's relatively good at figuring out what you're trying to say.
BlackBerry Maps is rather antiquated and lacks the powerful search that Google Maps offers. Searching for a meeting location from the calendar returned no results; pasting the same details into Google Maps found the location quickly. Whilst on the subject of locations, it's also frustrating that not all synced calendar locations will be live links, depending on how you arrange your calendars.
When it comes to apps, of course, the BlackBerry isn't the best served. Most of our essentials are covered however, and you'll find your social networks present and correct, although the app design doesn't seem as impressive as other smartphones, and they lack that snap and immediacy contemporary smartphones offer. In many areas, the BlackBerry Torch doesn't stand up to its rivals, which is a shame.

Some positives

It's not all doom and gloom. If your primary interest is in communication, then the BlackBerry still does rather well. We've mentioned that the email experience is good, and it is. The universal inbox makes it easy to jump to messages and alerts, although it could do with more options. Being able to sign into your accounts and have information sync to your device is very welcomed, and even though it stumbled with multiple calendars from our Google accounts, that was easily avoided with the Google Sync app.
The connectivity is also remarkably good for servicing email, especially when re-joining a network, stepping out of the underground for example. BlackBerrys will pick up emails on the merest hint of a GPRS connection, something that not all smartphones will do.
The arrangement of the Torch does give you a sort of best-of-both worlds with its keyboard and larger screen. Smartphones with keyboards aren't as common as they were a few years ago, and this is in part testament to how good on-screen keyboards now are and how well mobile operating systems have been designed to incorporate intuitive control.
With the BlackBerry Torch you can, at least, use the phone in either mode. You can casually browse Twitter with it closed, re-tweet a message, then slide it open to use the keyboard, giving you plenty of space for text entry. Although the keyboard isn't as good as other BlackBerrys, you do get used to it after time.
You also get more screen space to enjoy media, although we can't help feeling that the other Torch, the 9860, was a better device for consuming video content.

The 5-megapixel camera on the rear is good enough. By that, we mean that it offers average performance for a smartphone. Shots in good light are reasonable quality, adequate for sharing online or sending to friends, but low light photos will be soft and noisy. Video capture is also pretty good too, with the new 720p offering noticeably better results than the 640 x 480 video of the past.
The battery life is also pretty good, perhaps because you're less likely to have so many apps looking to gobble data. We managed to get through a day easily in average use. After a day of heavy use, you will see it complaining towards the end of the day, but it out-performs many smartphones when it comes to endurance.

Verdict

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 feels like an incremental step for RIM. The previous handset had obvious problems, some of which are addressed here, but we also feel that the 9810 is the phone the 9800 should have been. That sets this handset behind the times a little and that's certainly not helped by a user interface that lacks the consumer ease that you'll find in iOS, Android or Windows Phone 7.
That may all be set to change with the advent of BB 10, which should make an appearance at Mobile World Congress 2012. As such, we can't strongly recommend the BlackBerry Torch 9810 if you're interested in upgrading now.
If you're happy with the BlackBerry experience and value both screen space and a physical keyboard, then this style of device might be for you, but we'd suggest you bide your time and see what's coming next, before committing.

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BlackBerry Crash Due to Core Switch Failure at RIM

BlackBerry users around the globe have been experiencing problems with connecting to the Internet. While text messaging capabilities are not affected, this still leaves uses with a crippled BlackBerry that costs them a substantial amount on monthly fees though it can’t do anything beyond what a normal phone can. This is a big deal, considering that people get a BlackBerry because of its smartphone capabilities and not just its looks.
The first time BlackBerry users experienced problems worldwide was just yesterday, which BlackBerry UK then assured users through a tweet that the services has been restored. That was just about 18 hours ago, so when another crash was experienced a few hours after that, it isn’t surprising that people are making a bigger deal about it, especially since it is both browsing and messaging capabilities that have been affected. In short, BlackBerry’s are nothing but glorified calculators for the moment.
So far, there’s still no news as to when the issue will be resolved but BlackBerry UK’s last tweet (as of the moment this is published) states that they are working on the issue. The tweet also confirmed that message delays “were caused by a core switch failure in RIM’s infrastructure.”
This news must be making RIM sweat as it will surely affect their image negatively, which is the last thing they need in this cutthroat smartphone market.

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BlackBerry Torch 9860 review

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is a 3.7-inch touchscreen smartphone, sweeping aside the Storm name to give RIM another crack at a keyboardless device. It arrives with BlackBerry OS7, the same as the BlackBerry Bold 9900 which we reviewed recently, but offering a large screen BlackBerry experience.
Touchscreen devices are the most competitive category of smartphones. With big players producing increasingly sophisticated devices and refining the user experience at such a pace the BlackBerry Torch 9860 faces a huge challenge. Can BlackBerry still make an impact on the consumer space, or does forgoing a keyboard leave the handset toothless?

Design and controls

BlackBerry devices have been consistent in their design over the past few generations. One glance and you know the Torch 9860 is a BlackBerry. The framing of the two halves of the device with the silver band reflects a design highlight BlackBerry have been using for a couple of years. The soft curve at the top of the phone means you don't get a hard edge against your ear when you make a call.

By contrast, there is a sharp, hard, edge at the back of the phone and given the location of the lock/unlock on the top of the device, it's almost impossible to unlock the display comfortably using one hand. It's a small point and one of the first things we noticed. Even so, after about a week of use it stopped bothering us.
Running across the bottom of the display are a familiar selection of controls and all are physical buttons that stand proud of the body of the phone, unlike the flattened controls of the Bold 9900 or Torch 9810. Having pronounced controls might seem a little retro but at least you don't knock them as you use the device, so accidental presses are almost non-existent.
The screen tapers off to the left and right too, which makes it nice to swipe across the entire width of the phone, something that BB7 will let you do, thumbing through the menus or your messages.
The delicate contouring of the body of the phone around the 3.5mm headphone jack and the Micro-USB look great. It's nice to see attention to detail, especially design detail, but it does makes the BlackBerry Torch 9810 look a little unloved.

Measuring 120 x 62 x 11.5mm it's a good size too, although we feel the 120mm height is perhaps a little larger than it needs to be - we don't know how many extra millimetres went into those ends that feel just a bit too sharp.
We've mentioned main controls running across the bottom of the screen. These give you proper calling buttons, although BlackBerry now doesn't colour the call accept and reject buttons in green and red respectively, instead they are all white. Then there are menu button, the clickable, optical, navigation key and finally the back button.
Running down the side of the handset you'll find the usual arrangement of volume controls, in the centre of which is an additional button which will act as play/pause for your music, although, annoyingly, it won't launch the music player if it isn’t already open. Finally there is the convenience key that can be programmed to launch an app of your choosing.

Screen and hardware

Being a touch model and offering a large 3.7-inch display mean that the screen has to be good. It offers you resolution of 800 x 400 pixels, making it comparable to a number of Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. One thing is clear here: BlackBerry has figured out that people do care about specs.
What we find interesting, however, is that this gives you a different aspect to the BlackBerry Torch 9810, so across all the current devices you have different screen ratios. In the Torch 9860's favour, this is at least fairly conventional, so when you pair it up against something like the HTC Desire S your screen real estate is effectively the same.

It is a bright and vibrant screen. In direct sunlight we had no problem making out the details, with colours staying authentic, which is great. At the other end of the scale, however, it doesn't seem to want to dim to save the strain on your eyes - and battery - as the light drops, so you'll find that at night it can be a little dazzling.
But we're impressed with the performance.  It is sharp, video playback looks good and the colour is impressive - a little on the warm side of the colour scale, but that brings a nice vibrancy to reds.
Elsewhere on the hardware front you'll find a 1.2GHz processor under the hood, along with 768MB RAM and 4GB of internal memory. This internal memory can be further boosted by microSD card. Hardware specs aren't the measure of a mobile phone, but with more and more people seeking out these sorts of numbers, at least the Torch 9860 comes to the track with the right kit.

Software and keyboard

Hardware can only get you so far however, if your software isn't optimised then the user experience will suffer. Refining software is something that RIM has been doing for a number of years, resulting in the most recent iteration of the operating system BB7. It isn't significantly different from BB6 visually, more of a refinement of the changes ushered in with the last generation.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but a doubt hangs over these new BlackBerry devices with ongoing discussion of a move to the QNX platform next year. As it is, the user experience on the Torch 9860 is somewhat marred by the software: at times it will drag its heels or stop responding for reasons you can't quite determine.

  

Some things obviously do have an impact on it: installing apps seems to tax the phone, locking you out of pretty much everything else and we've found that the homescreen and the browser would both regularly hang. We would often have to pull the battery to get it going again.
Of course the feature that BlackBerry owners get excited about is email, and you'll find everything present and correct. Setup out of the box is a breeze and within a few minutes you'll find yourself connected, receiving email and logged into your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Giving the nod to Google users, you can set up syncing to pull over your contacts and calendar too, which were swiftly handled. Unfortunately, as we've seen before, if you have more than one calendar associated with a Google account then you can't access them all: so we had to resort to Google Sync (the app) to bring the other calendar into line.
Take this step with caution, however, as we subsequently found that our PC calendar then had the appointments in triplicate, with no logical discernable method of easily tidying things back up again.
BlackBerry 7 offers up a respectable user experience and is more adept at touch control than in the past. A long press often brings up the pertinent menu controls, but you'll still find yourself needing the full menu to really get things going.
On other BlackBerry devices you have the advantage that you can easily get things going with the keyboard by using universal search. That advantage has now gone because you have to use the on-screen keyboard, although universal search is still in place, along with voice search.

Voice searching did a good job of picking out for contacts, but once you get into more difficult language, like the name of our local vet for example, the success ratio drops off rapidly. At least you get the run of universal search applications to choose from, be it BlackBerry Maps, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
The default keyboard itself isn't especially good. We're spoilt from using great third-party Android keyboards, which make BB7's keyboard look rather prehistoric. But with some tinkering you can probably find the right settings for you, the first port of call for us was speeding up the response from the keyboard as the default is rather sluggish.
Of course the keyboard opens whenever you enter a text field and can be closed with a quick swipe down the middle. After that you'll either have to find another text field to open it, or you'll have to open the menu and hit the "Show Keyboard" option. You might want to do this to take advantage of some of the BB shortcuts, like "T" for "top", for example.
In portrait we found the full keyboard was just too cramped and too inaccurate, meaning text entry slowed right down. Fortunately the reduced keyboard is also an option, the same as appears on the likes of the Pearl 8100 series, with two characters on each key. The phone can then sensibly pick out the words you're trying to write and the whole experience gets much better, as long as you don't need too many special characters. Some of the traditional BB shortcuts still work too, like a double space for full stop, or a space for inserting the @ into an email in an address field.

The core BlackBerry applications work well enough: universal inbox pulling in messages from all sources, including apps, and in many cases we've found the BlackBerry Facebook app to be much faster than the equivalent on Android. Being able to compose a message and get an option of just about all message types to send to is useful too.
We're not huge fans of BlackBerry Maps, which looks a little dated compared to most other mapping services like Google or Bing Maps on Windows Phone 7, but will just about do the job and Google Maps can be installed if you prefer. We found that there was no link from the calendar locations through to maps, leaving us to copy and paste. At least copy and paste is relatively simple to control, but can be a little too eager, for example selecting text in the Twitter app, when all you really want to do is scroll.

Browser and apps

The biggest change, however, is the browser. BlackBerry knew they had to improve it, and it really has done. It is now much faster than previously, so straight website browsing is a pleasure, with pages quick to load.
However, it isn't without problems. We've already mentioned that we experienced a lot of lock-ups when using the browser and this is a problem compounded by one of the other issues that faces the Torch 9860 and BB7 devices: apps.

Without dedicated apps, you'll spend more time using the browser to access those services, or that information, to get what you need. Although BlackBerry has BBC iPlayer, Spotify, eBay, Skype apps, for example, they aren't available for the Torch 9860. Head to the BBC iPlayer website and you'll get the standard "Your phone isn't supported" message.
What this points to is the immediate need for apps to be updated to give the Torch 9860 the best fighting chance as a competitive handset. Of course we found the same position with the Bold 9900 when we reviewed it in August and we're no better off. With the spectre of QNX hanging over this generation of devices, we can't be entirely confident it'll get the attention it needs to shine.

Camera and multimedia

With 3.7-inches of screen on offer video certainly comes to the fore. Despite the very obvious omission of Flash video support limiting your consumption of common online video, we found that local content was handled nicely. HD media from the memory card was delivered smoothly, so if you happen to have a stack of MPEG4 movies, then you'll be able to easily enjoy them on your phone. There is no sign of DLNA support however.

The 5-megapixel camera on the rear of the device is supported by an LED flash, suffering from the usual shortcomings you'd expect from a phone. Low light shots aren't great, but in good light, the Torch 9860 will give you reasonable results. Being an autofocus camera, you'll get nice sharp images.
It does lack some excitement though, not offering anything by the way of effects. Video is also impressive, churning out good quality 720p footage at 30fps. Again, during video filming you'll find that you get continuous autofocus, so we don't have much to complain about.

Plug in a set of reasonable third-party headphones and you'll find that the BB Torch 9860 sounds sweet. The external speaker also provides good quality and volume, be that for sharing your tunes at the bus stop or that ad hoc conference call in your hotel room.
Finally, we never had a problem getting through a day on the battery. We did come close to emptying it during a normal working day, but we never felt that we needed to leave the house on a full charge in the same way we often to with similar spec Android devices.

Verdict

Some areas of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 feel a little antiquated as a consumer device. Diving into the menus you still need to "save" as you make changes. We also can't help feeling that, although the sliding app tray, and the choice of homescreen menus is useful, it isn't as dynamic as other operating systems. Without the app tray up, you're looking at a simple wallpaper, so you don't get the same sense of immediate control as you might from widgets, notification bar controls or lockscreen controls.
But some aspects of BB7 shine on the Torch 9860. Messaging, be it SMS, email, BBM, Facebook or Twitter, continue to be strong and integrated. We've also found that those essential apps work well. Sharing (or sending as it's referred to) works as well as it does anywhere else. So barring a few exceptions, the Torch 9860 is every bit as effective a social communicator as any other device.
Pair that with strong camera performance, great video, and good screen and speedy browser, all packed into a phone that's actually rather attractive to look at and there is something going for the 9860. It's a shame then that minor software details are what really let the package down: the lack of app support for BB7 and tendency to become unresponsive are challenging, but not insurmountable, problems.

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5 Alasan BlackBerry Populer di Indonesia

Update status Facebook dengan BlackBerry? Nge-tweet juga menggunakan BlackBerry? Tiada hari tanpa pencet-pencet QWERTY keypad untuk BBM dengan teman? Mengirim dan balas email dengan BlackBerry? Merasa keren jika di tangan ada BlackBerry? 

Wah, sepertinya memang Anda salah satu fans berat BlackBerry. Well, Anda tidak sendiri. Meski laporan pasar internasional menunjukkan penghasilan RIM turun drastis pada paruh pertama 2011 ini namun demikianlah faktanya; Indonesia jatuh cinta dengan Blackberry.

Dari sejumlah smartphone yang berkembang di pasar Indonesia, nyatanya BlackBerry menempati posisi yang terhormat di hati masyarakat kita. Bahkan, situs BBC Inggris menyebut rakyat Indonesia cinta mati dengan BlackBerry. Bagaimana bisa begitu?

1. BlackBerry? Keren!

Ok, itulah yang ada di benak sebagian besar masyarakat kita. Lihat saja saat jam istirahat siang, restoran dan kedai makan tidak hanya penuh dengan orang namun penuh juga dengan BlackBerry yang ada di tangan pengunjungnya. Lihat juga di mall, dari usia sekolah sampai yang telah berumur terlihat menggenggam BlackBerry. Suara alert dari BBM dan notifikasi lain di BlackBerry sepertinya telah menjadi bagian dari kehidupan kota. Singkatnya, tanpa BlackBerry Anda dianggap ‘gak gaul’.

2. Demam BlackBerry

‘Demam’ bisa diartikan sebagai sesuatu yang menular. Dari mulut ke mulut fitur yang ditawarkan BlackBerry berkembang dan memunculkan rasa penasaran. Sebagai contoh, jika di awal 2008 hanya satu/dua orang saja di sebuah kantor yang memiliki BlackBerry smartphone maka kini bisa disebut hampir semua orang kantoran punya BlackBerry. Bahkan anak sekolah dari usia SD sampai SMA pun dibelikan BlackBerry oleh orang tuanya. Ya, staff marketing BlackBerry harus berterima kasih pada pengguna BlackBerry Indonesia yang telah menyebarkan virus demam BlackBerry ini.

3. Pengalaman baru

Seperti dilaporkan oleh BBC, ahli IT Onno Purbo mengatakan bahwa Indonesia sebagai negara pengguna selalu mencari sesuatu yang baru. Dan itu ditawarkan oleh BlackBerry. Barangkali karena sekian lama masyarakat Indonesia terbiasa memakai ponsel dengan keypad standar, maka ketika BlackBerry masuk ke Indonesia dengan menawarkan konsep QWERTY keypad maka antusias dan rasa penasaran pun tak bisa dibendung. Belum lagi jika disebut bisa berkirim pesan tanpa berkurang pulsa. Ya, meski Apple punya iMessage di iOS 5 dan Android juga akan punya Google Messenger, tapi dunia mengakui BlackBerry-lah smartphone pertama yang memiliki layanan mobile messenger, BBM.

4. Demam social media

Tidak dipungkiri internet menjadi satu-satunya pemicu berkembangnya smartphone. Data statistik Socialbakers mengestimasi Indonesia kini memiliki 37 juta pengguna Facebook yang berarti separuh dari pengguna Facebook di Amerika. Sementara itu comScore menempatkan Indonesia pada posisi ke-4 dari pengguna Twitter tertinggi di seluruh dunia. Bukan hanya ajang menjalin pertemanan, namun dua social media tersebut telah menjadi sarana paling ampuh untuk menjalin simpati dan menyebarkan berita, bahkan seringkali lebih cepat dari breaking news di televisi. Sebut saja solidaritas untuk Prita Mulyasari atau support untuk kegiatan sosial yang lebih mudah dan cepat jika memakai sarana Facebook dan Twitter. Dan semua itu bisa terjadi karena adanya BlackBerry smartphone.

5. Kesan mahal

Harus diakui pemikiran seperti itu ada di masyarakat kita meski sebenarnya tidak semua smartphpne BlackBerry mahal. Bahkan jika dibanding smartphone Android high-end atau iPhone, maka BlackBerry masih tergolong lebih rendah harganya. Namun justru kesan mahal itulah yang membuat sebagian masyarakat Indonesia tergila-gila dengan BlackBerry.

sumber: beritaunik.net

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