With a 3.7” inch touch screen at a WVGA (800×480) resolution with 253 DPI, the BlackBerry Torch 9860 has the biggest BlackBerry smartphone screen ever. The all-touch screens provide a sharp and crisp viewing experience to combine everything BlackBerry devices are known for – performance, security and reliability – with new user features like augmented reality apps and improved web browsing and multimedia experiences.

We love the BlackBerry Torch smartphone screen most for browsing the web with the next generation BlackBerry 7 browser. My news sites, shopping sites and my daily obsession, tech and lifestyle blogs, all render fast and look great on that big, beautiful screen. Of course using BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone touch screens to pan, zoom and scroll through your favorite websites is easy as well.

Design of Torch 9860

One design element to note with the all-touch BlackBerry Torch screen: we designed the face of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones to ‘fall over’ the device edge, which lengthens the screen to provide a visual experience that works in landscape or portrait orientation.

The design goal with the all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones was to create a stylish look that sets the product apart in a field filled with boxy devices. The seamless front lens with ‘Waterfall’ ends offers a great visual experience and the sculpted back provides a perfect ergonomic fit, regardless of whether it’s used as a traditional phone (in portrait orientation) or like a gaming console or web browser (in landscape orientation).

Though there are many layers to the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones design, they are integrated and flow one into the other. For example, the buttons on the side of the smartphone are simple to find with your fingers and provide quick access volume, mute and camera functionality, but are understated, so as not to interrupt the design. Another example would be the back housing of the BlackBerry Torch smartphone, which dips down to fit in the camera lens and flash, without impacting its form and feel in the palm of your hand.

Engineering the BlackBerry Torch 9860

Engineering the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones to meet this vision wasn’t easy, and there were a number of occasions where it appeared that we might have to trade-off form for function. But the development teams rose to the challenge, and in the end, have delivered a product that is both aesthetically pleasing and incredibly functional for both personal and professional use.

We knew when designing the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones that the touch screen user interface would have to be both refined and robust enough to support an all-touch device. Many improvements and enhancements have been made to the touch screen UI in the BlackBerry 7 OS that the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones take full advantage of. These improvements vary from minor adjustments of touch sensitivity based upon screen location to redesigning the layout of the virtual keyboard for easier texting. In addition, the predictive text algorithms have also been optimized to provide fewer, more targeted word choices for faster communications.

All these improvements combine holistically to ensure an efficient and intuitive experience when using the BlackBerry Torch smartphone, whether you’re BBM chatting with a friend or playing the latest game.

In addition to the large and crisp screen, the all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones have many hardware features new to BlackBerry smartphones, including an HD camera and magnetometer (also known as a “digital compass”). These features aren’t just for show, but allow BlackBerry smartphone users to create, consume and share great content on their device. Here are a few examples:

Camera – The BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone cameras supports HD recording at 720p to capture stunning videos to view on your BlackBerry smartphone, computer or HDTV. But the best feature has to be the 5MP, zero-shutter lag photo camera. The ability to upload these photos from within the Camera app with a few clicks to Facebook allows you to virtually instantly share these moments with friends and family turns the BlackBerry Torch into something more than a smartphone.

Magnetometer – Combined with the Camera app and GPS, the magnetometer or digital compass on the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones has enabled a new class of “augmented reality” applications on the BlackBerry platform. One example is the Wikitude augmented reality browser, which will be available on the BlackBerry App World storefront at launch. The Wikitude browser combines real and virtual worlds via the Camera viewfinder to provide immediate and relevant data about one’s surroundings. One great feature of the Wikitude browser is its integration with BBM 6. This (opt-in) feature allows you to see the location of your BBM 6 contacts in real-time and spontaneously arrange to meet for coffee if you happen to be in the same ‘hood. 

Together with the powerful hardware found in the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone, the new BlackBerry 7 OS offers a variety of performance and usability enhancements resulting in a truly wonderful user experience. 

From the ground up, the software architecture of BlackBerry 7 has been redesigned to maximize the use of hardware acceleration and graphical fidelity. This optimization allows for rich graphics, smooth animations and a fluid touch experience. Liquid Graphics touches much of the features discussed above, from the new BlackBerry browser to the all-touch UI to 3rd party applications like the Wikitude browser or 3D games. Combined with the large screen, Liquid Graphics provides a responsive and striking graphical experience for BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone users.

Specifications:

• Dimensions: 120 x 62 x 11.5mm
• Weight: 135g
• Display: 3.7"
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm jack, microUSB port
• Camera: 5MP with autofocus and LED flash
• OS: BlackBerry 7 OS
• CPU: 1.2GHz processor
• Battery: 1230 mAh