Hold the Torch high

MANILA, Philippines - Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not one for much chit-chat. I often prefer a quiet room where I can pick up a good book, a cool gadget or spend quiet time with my dogs.

But there is one gadget that I can’t seem to escape — my BlackBerry. Having been a BB user for over five years, I have seen this device evolve — from the intense looking smartphone to the slimmer and more fancy type and then back to the smartphone look that it has today.

I remember being told that the BB Pearl was introduced so that it could compete more with the other cellphones in the market. At the time, there was a need to market the BB hard so that people would take notice. It was a time too when cellphones were getting smaller and people wanted to have a gadget they could easily slip into their pockets or their little black bags.

Fast forward

But over the last three years, the BB seems to have developed a very loyal niche market. The kind that is so loyal that once they got hooked on the BlackBerry, they never want to go back to any other cellphone.

We can blame this on some of the movies where the “bida” is a BlackBerry.

My friend Alexei told me that he wanted to go out and buy a BlackBerry after he watched “Buried,” starring Ryan Reynolds, because the BB got 50 percent of the screen time.

I did not see the movie myself, but I do know that Alexei is a recent convert to the BB.

I have another friend, J, who used to laugh at me as I sang praises for the BB a few years back. But now she has one — and swears by it.

I guess it must have been the influence of US President Barack Obama, who can’t live without his BB. Matter of fact, it was something like death to him when he had to give it up for a while.

Of course, there are so many celebs with BBs that making owning one seems just the right thing to do. If you are a celeb-watcher, that is.

And then there is the BlackBerry Torch.

Like many other BB-lovers like myself — I waited with bated breath for the launching of the Torch here. I know that even three months before I got hold of the Torch, it was already available in nearby Hong Kong.

I did spend a few months drooling over the Torch, which had a unit for sale in my suking tindahan. But I really much prefer to get a cellphone from a reliable, or better yet, the official distributor here in the country.

Keep the Torch burning

 I was not to be disappointed. As soon as I held the BB Torch, I knew it was the one. BlackBerry Torch is the first BB smartphone to feature both a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. It also is the first to run on the BB6 platform.

Oh, and I have to say that I truly love the new touch screen of the BB Torch because it responds to touch quicker than quick.

I also love the fact that transferring data from one BB to another is really easy. Just put the SIM card in and ask to set up e-mail and voila, all the e-mail addresses that I had in my previous BB pop up.

The only confirmation needed to get the BB working is the right passwords. And then the e-mails come in.

Push e-mail is what this cellphone was made to do, and it gets the job done really efficiently.

But there is always something new up the sleeve of RIM, the manufacturer of BB that makes each new BB a much-coveted gadget.

One of the new and innovative new features is Social Feeds. I noticed it on the screen as soon as I turned the BB on and opened the tray on the touch screen.

The Social Feeds was able to organize my social networking life. Imagine I was able to get my Twitter, BBM, YM and Facebook notification all in one neat program. How much better can it get?

“The new BlackBerry Torch smartphone builds on the familiar and powerful capabilities of the BlackBerry platform to provide the features that are ideal for socially connected consumers while also providing the tools that business customers trust,” said Gregory Wade, RIM managing director for Southeast Asia, at the recent launch of the BB Torch. “The new BlackBerry 6 operating system includes many new features that users will enjoy, including Universal Search, Social Feeds and a fast WebKit browser.”

Techie load

The Torch features an exciting combination of a large touch screen, optical trackpad and backlit slide-out BlackBerry keyboard. Just great for people like me who love to have the option of using the keypad or going touch screen as the mood dictates.

The speed of connection with 3G networks hereabouts is quite remarkable. Downloading and surfing are so much more fun. I also love that the Wi-Fi connectivity is what RIM calls the latest generation in Wi-Fi connectivity.

And the five-megapixel camera takes exceptional pictures with continuous auto focus, image stabilization, scene modes and zoom, and it also supports video recording. It was great taking clear shots and then being able to Tweet them in just three moves. Cool.

In addition, it comes with a combined eight GB of media storage out-of-the-box and includes a microSD/SDHD memory card slot that can bring the total storage memory to a cool 36 GB.

How it operates

The Torch is the first BB smartphone to launch with BlackBerry 6, a new operating system that retains the trusted features of the BlackBerry brand, while delivering a rich experience that’s powerful and easy to use. It has a redesigned interface and includes expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), and provides integrated access to BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), Facebook, Twitter, and various messaging applications available on the BlackBerry Torch smartphone. Its enhanced multimedia experience rivals the best in the industry and includes a dedicated YouTube app.

With all of this, the Torch is just what I am looking for in a smartphone. I have been asked if I find it too bulky, but I find size is perfect for me. I will go as far as to say that for me, the Torch is the best BlackBerry to date — and it is loads of fun to use, too.

The Torch is just what the any BB user could want in a smartphone. The Web browser is fixed. And it now has a great touch screen. I guess a great phone comes about when manufacturers like RIM listen to their users and come up with a cellphone that works better than the last.

The BB Torch burns brightly in my smartphone heart.