News & Rumors

BlackBerry Torch 2 details emerge

by Bla1ze

on 13 Jan 2011 01:36 PM

153

Just in case the other two device leaks weren't enough for you, how about some details about the BlackBerry Torch 2? Well, alright then. The BlackBerry Torch which was released not all that long ago now looks to have a successor already in the works. Realistically, the updated specs look more along the lines of what the first BlackBerry Torch should have been considering many folks took issue with how little of an advancement the original BlackBerry Torch was. Have a look at whats been detailed for the BlackBerry Torch 2:

1.2GHz processor
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Tri-band HSPA 14.4Mbps
3.2-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive display
8GB built-in memory
512MB RAM
Bluetooth 2.1
GPS
NFC
5MP camera with flash
Magnetometer
1300 mAh battery
BlackBerry OS 6.1
OpenGL ES
14.6mm thin

So if you're unhappy with your current Torch maybe the BlackBerry Torch 2 is more fitting for you? These are the specs we have been wanting. Sure, there is no dual core listed there but 1.2GHz is nothing to shake a stick at. While specs and all that are great to look at the real question remains with the OS though. Does OS 6.1 make use of the new specs and hardware? Sticking a 1.2GHz processor in there doesn't really mean much if the OS is not optimized to make use of it. We'll find out soon, as noted in the source link Research In Motion is tracking Q3 for the release of the Blackberry Torch 2.

Discuss more in our new Torch 2 forum

Source: BGR

Filed Under: News & Rumors; Tags: BlackBerry, BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Torch 2, Research In Motion

153 Comments

Posted by emirozmen Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

should be better than this!

Posted by 1magine Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

1 QESTION ONLY. Where are the APPLICATIONS STORED? If its on the 512 of shared RAM then why are they bothering? You can not develop Apps for this platform. Modern feature rich applications are often 200-300 megs on their own. It is hard enough to port games and applications to JAVA to begin with but having to cut a 200 meg app down to 20 and knowing that even at that size 50% of BB users will reject the application on size alone is why this platform is dying.

Posted by slant Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Wrong. Modern games may be that big. But if you're really trying to port games to BB you're wasting your time. Rule #1: know your market.

Posted by Agent00J Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Too true. It's not just about the company knowing their market, but it's also about the market knowing the company. People should know by now that this is how RIM operates. They launch a device, wait a few months, give it a minor upgrade, and launch it again as something brand new.

I don't know why people act so shocked when this happens. This is RIM's pattern, and they just won't change. You can either get used to it, or you can jump ship... but RIM will never change.

Posted by thymaster Friday, Jan 14, 2011 405 days ago

I agree, this is how RIM behaves. It's still an growing company and there's something that they are doing right that people are still drawn to the Blackberry brand. They have a 10 year plan and have invested heavily into the in future (QNX). Whether you like it or not, it's how they operate.

Posted by wheelah Friday, Jan 14, 2011 404 days ago

Exactly! And that why I finally jumped ship after the Tour. Wifi, a trackpad and some memory could have --and should have been -- included to begin with. Maybe I'm not RIM's market, but I like a handset that that doesn't make me feel like a paying beta tester. Or a sucker after 6 months.

Posted by jwmax Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 403 days ago

I jumped ship and jumped back. The fact is if your primary purpose is communication (phone, email, BBM etc.) you can't beat Blackberry. So why the carping? If you want to primarily play games on your phone don't get a blackberry.

And what's up with Blaze? "If you don't like your Torch"???? I have one and it's great, I'll probably upgrade to Torch 2 or the new Bold, but that doesn't mean I don't like the Torch.

It's one thing for iFags to come on here and bitch, but for the crackberry team to be so negative is just dumb. Concrete criticism is fine but lines like that one? Guess your getting mixed up since you get paid by android as well.

Oh yeah I forgot most of the team is made up of whinning Canadians. Inferiority complexes to the front of the line!

Posted by ILoveTorch Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 403 days ago

I'll ignore the iF**s comment and the one about Canadians and agree with everything else you said!

I, too, don't expect to be hearing phrases like "If you don't like the Torch" from the CrackBerry team. I love CB ofr news, reviews, and info, but this really takes away from my confidence in the site.

CrackBerry is supposed to be a PRO-BlackBerry site, for fans, by fans. That doesn't mean constructive comments or recommendations of additional features RIM might add are unwelcome; those are good too. But what I don't want to see are these types of blanket-negative comments about the devices.

I love my Torch, but will probably upgrade to the Torch 2 when it comes out... what I'd like to see is more about why we should buy the Torch 2, rather than comments suggesting we wouldn't like the current Torch.

Posted by Marc_Paradise Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Whoo, good thing you told me that. If you hadn't, I might have continued to develop my feature rich, professional-quality app that clocks in at just a hair under 1MB and includes several custom bitmap and truetype fonts. (http://bbssh.org/ - yep, that's me, shamelessly plugging again).

Seriously, if you're making games with extensive artwork then MAYBE you should be using that many resources. In almost any other case, though, I'd suggest that if you need 200MB or even 20MB you're doing something wrong.

If you still think you need to do it that way, think outside the box. Find a way to get the assets on the device's file storage instead of bundled with the app -- that actually will make your life easier in terms of releasing resource updates too.

Posted by mscrivo Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

wow! thanks for that shameless plug, what a great app!

Posted by andrewmcwhirter Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Booya! Thats right!
Great app btw, I use it ALL the time!!

Posted by Jean-luc_Picard Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

RAM isn't where you store the applications! All the data on RAM is deleted when you drain your battery or reboot. RAM would be where you'd store such things as "where is the character on the screen?" or "what webpages are open in what tabs. You'd store applications in the 8GB of internal storage most likely, and while you probably can't store apps on the media card, you can store 32GB+ on it and use the internal memory for applications. The largest app I have personally seen is around 5MB, so you can fit around 1600 of those apps in that memory. Even with the 200MB apps you described, you could fit 40 of those.

Posted by nolhayes Friday, Jan 14, 2011 405 days ago

wrong. The RAM is where the apps are stored. I have the Torch and I wish I could get apps on the 4GB of onboard memory. The 512 of RAM is where it goes no matter what. the 4GB is basically the same as a memory card. And then of course there is the memory card, mine is 16gb, it can store no apps its all media and maybe a file or two.

Posted by mrtolles Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

After this fresh round of rumored "upcoming devices", AKA RIM's Recycle/Reuse/Reduce market shares plan, I am more convinced then ever to end this love affair gone astray. OS 4.6 through the upcoming 6.1 has offered little more then an updated UI.

You have to expect it though. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. RIM's devices do exactly what they claim to do and do it well. BlackBerry's are great business smartphones, but there is a share of their users that do not use them for business and that share is getting smaller by the day.

Posted by 754boy Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

1.2Ghz processor seems like a waste on a BB. Theres no BB apps out there that require that much power. They NEED to allow apps2sd install. Thats why I got rid of my damned 9700. Too much frustration waiting for RIM to innovate.

Posted by dwaynewilliams Friday, Jan 14, 2011 404 days ago

Its funny how everyone wanted an updated processor and now that they have one, people complain about that, too.

Posted by coreyk86 Sunday, Jan 16, 2011 402 days ago

RIM could put out the perfect phone and still people would want more

Posted by Bhsin Monday, Jun 13, 2011 255 days ago

I agree, i have always used BB products. I tried the torch the first day of release. ALthough it's a reliable phone, i have to say for the original price it was disappointing. This phone couldn't compare to any half descent smart phone. I do not game on my phone, but I'm referring to the terrible screen resolution the relatively slow processor. The torch 2 should have been the torch 1. Torch 2 i was expecting more then this, if the rumors are true, I'm finally going to go iphone like everyone else.

Posted by WillieLee Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

That RAM seems low. But then again, these rumours have a habit of being...rumours.

Posted by CASH Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Why RIM? These devices are proof that QNX on handsets will not come until 2012 :(

Posted by Agent00J Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

2012, eh? Wow, I think you're giving them a lot of credit. I was thinking more like 2014 at the very earliest.

Posted by fayek Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

apart from the 1.2 GHZ speed bump i see no major change really.... call me when QNX comes around.

Posted by corymcnutt Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

EXACTLY...a "refresh" and nothing to stop more people from jumping to Android or the iPhone! :(

Posted by ugahairydawgs Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

I get the reasoning why they pushed out Torch 1 when they did, but I think RIM would have helped itself out tremendously had this been the first generation device.

Better late than never, but I think they'd do themselves a world of favor if they were somehow able to get this thing out Q2 ahead of the iPhone refresh.

Posted by jwmax Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 403 days ago

Did I just read iPhone and refresh together? NO WAY!!! God Jobs would nver refresh a phone! That would be what RIM does. God Jobs only put out new phone which advance us into the next century even year or so. He shows us the path to eternal happyness, while $%^& us up the ^&* wth product like the iPad aka big iPod touch. But we must all praise God Jobs because he tells us that we should.

Honestly, I own an Torch and love it. Does what I want and does it well.

Face the fact that if you are on this site you are a techno nerd and totally irrelevant as far as smartphone market share.

The iPhone is gaining (at the moment) because of marketing and marketing only. I'm not saying the product doesn't have some nice specs but face the fct that it is marketing that is driving apple. Android is ganing because every producer and his dog is building android phones.

My guess is that in a few years android will dominate the market (in the US) with apple occupying the high-end and blackberry the business market.But market share isn't important, what's important is getting a phone that does what you want and for me that is Blackberry.

Posted by branta Sunday, Jan 16, 2011 402 days ago

Too True... BlowJobs simply denied that the iPhone4 antenna design was defective, because Apple marketing slime and profits have precedence over truth, customer service and product quality.

Posted by pennzman543 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

bennnnnndeerrrrr.....

Q3 seems too far... I dunno how much i believe these bgr rumors

Posted by mtmjr90 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

It's a step...though is it just me or does anyone else see a front-facing camera on that render that isn't mentioned at all? Also 1300 mAh battery is weak, especially for a 1.2 GHz processor. Add QNX and then this would truly be a paradigm shift for RIM...maybe Torch 3?

Posted by Bob G Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Agreed. The faster microprocessor and higher resolution screen will just make that tiny battery die even faster than in Torch 1.

I have my fingers crossed for the Dakota.

Posted by Bla1ze Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

No front facing camera.. you see a LED and a proximity sensor.. That's it. You won't see a FF camera on a BB unless it's the PlayBook for quite some time yet.

Posted by Auli Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Too many rumors in one day = false

Posted by abran770 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

CDMA much? Please and thanks.

Posted by mtmjr90 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

The Torch is AT&T's baby, I don't think anyone should expect that line to go to any other carrier (in the US at least). see Storm, Style.

Posted by mrlee7 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

today is a good day. Now let's hear about the Storm 3.

Posted by makaveli28 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

I agree this should have been the original torch, just like the 9780 should have been the Bold 9700. Same with the TOUR line. We will have to see on the RAM, I can't see them putting less RAM in this phone then the "Dakota" they previewed today. Glad to see they improved the resolution.

Posted by Xader Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Just like Windows 7 should have been the first Windows, and the Gallardo should have been the first Lamborghini, and the G36 should have been the first rifle.

It's progress. Appreciate it for what it is....

Posted by geek126 Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

AMEN

Posted by jemelanthony Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

well said

Posted by farico Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

so right!

Posted by Frank2029 Friday, Jan 14, 2011 404 days ago

Exactly, These people don't know how things work.

Posted by BeansBerry Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

I hope bgr shows us a new storm with all these rumors!

Posted by paspals Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

seeing is believing, but dreaming doesnt cut it yet!!! Me wants announcement from mike himself with apologies for being late and not intouch with reality...

Posted by branta Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

LMAO at the faster processor and the same hopeless battery

Posted by AgentScribe Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Jesus H RIM! Stop with all these new devices. My Torch1 is getting older and older by each CB post. lol Just kidding, I still love my 9800.

Posted by sstevenson Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

Great device.

Posted by Novacrane Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 405 days ago

I honestly don't believe any of these rumors. Photoshop does wonders on some. And the fact that they are showing nothing but GSM type devices tells me that it's just somebody's wish list.