Torch acquisition nets new Blackberry browser for RIM
It’s been less than six months since RIM acquired Torch Mobile with the clear intent of upgrading the browsing experience on Blackberry phones. Now RIM is set to demo the new browser and open up the world of touch to Blackberry users.
The demo will be held at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain later today. It’s fairly impressive that RIM is ready to demo its new browser considering the fact that it only acquired Torch in August.
Torch developed a Webkit-based browser for the Blackberry, which is the same engine used by Apple’s Safari and by Google to build Chrome. That change should help RIM compete against these two leading mobile browser developers.
RIM’s addictive Blackberry phones are still tops for enterprise email, but had been outpaced in terms of touch screen interfaces and browsing experience for the last few years since the iPhone came out. It wasn’t long before RIM released the touch-enabled Blackberry Storm, but it wasn’t quite the hit the company was banking on.
Nevertheless, RIM is continuing to hone its interface and applications to compete with the major touch phones. This new browser could very well be the last piece in the puzzle for RIM in stacking up against the iPhone and Android devices.
The new browser is expected to ship on new devices this year, but RIM isn’t being specific as to when or on which phones. “You’ll see how fast it downloads, how quickly it renders and how smooth it scrolls and zooms in,” RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazardis told BusinessWeek.
RIM is also expected to announce an “Express” version of its Blackberry Enterprise Server to provide an email offering to small businesses. With these innovations, RIM just might be able to hang onto its title as the most popular smartphone in the U.S.
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February 16th, 2010
Sweet!!! I think this will def gain some brownie points with the top exec and corp users. Now they can whine a little bit less about how their kids’ iPhone looks so much cooler
December 20th, 2010
Does anybody knows when the BB OS.6 will be released for the 9700?