Smartphone or not to Smartphone

SmartPhone or not
I dislike SMARTPHONES (let me get that out of the way). Let me rephrase that, I dislike the iphone and the Blackberry.
My employer provides me with a BLACKBERRY BOLD 9700 (with certain restrictions).
-Limited Texting
-No long distance calls (I must pay for them if I need to make a long distance call).
-No applications to be installed (unless approved by management).
-Units must be replaced every three months.
We got the new Blackberry Torch 9800, to trial, before we agree to do the replacement.
The Torch’s coming out party has been unprecedented for RIM, and it shows just how much the company needs this Smartphone to be a hit.
As a moderate but welcome evolution of the Blackberry line, the Torch succeeds. The question is, is that enough to fend off Apple and Android in the all-in one mobile phone market?
A smidgen thicker and heavier than the svelte Blackberry Bold 9700, the TORCH is a hybrid device with an 8:1 touch screen that slides up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. It also boasts the latest version of the Blackberry OS, which makes the already simple task of navigating through the phone’s features more intuitive. It will take current Blackberry users time to adapt to using both touch and typing to interact with the TORCH, but overall it’s more logical.
The TORCH will be great for those who dwell in the RIM’s realm, either by choice or by the will of their corporate departments (read me). Better music & video playback features, a slick universal search function and a combined timeline of social media updates are welcome new features (had to get approval to test that one), but nothing compromises Blackberry’s greatest strength: Fast and easy e-mail.
Will the TORCH draw in customers? The keyboard-plus-touch screen combo is fantastic, but when placed side by side with iPhone/Android, the TORCH feels almost primitive. The touch screen is not as high resolution nor as responsive as the competition, and the web browsing and multimedia features, while much improved, re still not nearly as robust.
As a current Blackberry user, I find the TORCH to be more finicky than my current Blackberry Bold 9700. Little things, like Blackberry Messenger being slower to respond and the dreaded clock icon appearing more frequently, make me wonder if the slick new OS is perhaps straining the hardware a bit.
I can’t remember the last time a Blackberry caused so much of a stir. There’s still a lot of love out there for the old ‘Berry, and the TORCH will surely fan those flames.

Walk Good