BlackBerry RIM's (Research In Motion are the company that produce the blackberry) latest model line is the Torch 9800 smart phone. This model represents RIM's second attempt at cracking the touch screen market some time after Apple released their first i-phone, which of course was cloned by just about every other manufacturer on the market with varying degrees of success.
RIM's first entrant to the touch screen market was the BlackBerry Storm. This handset did not sell well as it was not up to the standard of rival touch screen phones, and it failed to find favour with BlackBerry's existing customer base due to the lack of a QWERTY keyboard, which is one of BlackBerry's strongest features. (Despite this RIM are releasing another version fo the Storm, clearly they intend to persevere in the touch screen market).
Taking the lessons learned from the problems with the BB Storm, RIM released a hybrid phone, the Torch 9800. This handset has touch screen capabilities but also has a slide out keyboard. This keyboard is in keeping with BlackBerry tradition of producing high quality mechanical QWERTY keyboards, and despite its very slim profile (only a couple of millimeters thick) it is strong and robust, exhibiting very high build quality and a good choice of materials.
The torch has however come in for some criticism amongst mobile phone aficionados who were quick to point out that the processor used in the BB torch was, even on its launch date below par when compared to the handsets being released by rival manufacturers, like HTC (who recently released a full QWERTY version of the Desire, the HTC Desire Z).
As well as the innovative use of the slide out keyboard, the other noteable feature of the Torch is the upgraded operating system (BlackBerry OS6) which first appeared on the Torch, before being rolled out on the later Curve 3G and Bold 9780 series. There are a number of useful additions with this operating system, the most noteworthy being the web kit based browser which is a lot faster than the old browser shipped with OS5, which was pretty poor.
Price wise the BB Torch is toward the higher end of the spectrum for a smart / touch screen phone, and may struggle when put up against some of the Android phones coming onto the market, which tend to have faster processors and a much more flexible operating system. That said, BlackBerry customers are sure to love this phone, it provides a lot more choice within the BlackBerry range (which when you think about it is limited to a relatively small number of models, (Curve, Bold, Storm and Pearl).
If you are considering ordering a BlackBerry Torch then it is well worth using a comparison site like BerryDeals.Net to compare contract prices. That site happens to be UK specific, but there are similar sites for other territories you can use.
If you shop around you will find that, dpending on the type of contract you are looking for you can probably pick up a Torch for free, bundled in with the price of your contract, though, to get one of these deals you will need to be ordering a fairly expensive contract. That said, as many BB users are actually paying for them with business accounts that may not be such an issue!