RIM Announces BlackBerry Torch, Curve 3G

RIM announced a new touchscreen/slider smart phone, the BlackBerry Torch, which will run BlackBerry OS 6 when it goes on sale via AT&T on August 12. It's not the only OS6-ready device hitting the market this month. RIM will also have a BlackBerry Curve 3G world phone on sale from T-Mobile in the U.S. and other carriers worldwide in August. The BlackBerry Curve 9300 is the first to support 3G on GSM-based networks.

All in all, the BlackBerry Torch seems like a solid device and the new Curve is a good move. Although the Torch features both a capacitive touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry OS 6 is still far behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS in terms of consumer-grade user-friendliness and application integration.

Granted, BlackBerry remains the leader when it comes to enterprise-grade activation, but these days even business smart phone decisions are being driven increasingly by devices that capture the hearts and minds of consumers. If BlackBerry Torch fails to do this, it's possible that RIM is going to experience some trouble in the mobile market. One other issue with the Torch: it's only available to AT&T customers.