You probably heard about RIM’s latest smartphone offering–the Blackberry Torch. The Torch includes a touchscreen coupled with a slider keyboard. The biggest change in the Torch is the inclusion of an improved web browser, based on WebKit (the engine that powers mobile Safari and every other major smartphone web browser). The Blackberry web browser previously, was the bain of every user’s existence.
The folks at Crackberry.com decided to do a browser shootout between the iPhone 4, the Blackberry Torch, and the Samsung Captivate. The testers get desperate for the Torch to win, but it loses every single time. I can’t believe RIM would release the Torch with the same low resolution screen from the disastrous Blackberry Storm. What were they thinking?
During the video one of the testers complains about the “extra” taps to get to WiFi settings on the iPhone. Quite hilarious. The browser loading on the Torch reminds me of the dismal performance of the Opera iPhone app. What a pain it must be to have all data go through RIM’s servers, compressed, then sent back to your phone.
They also mention how the Torch would most definitely “beat” the iPhone 3GS in a browser shootout. Why compare RIM’s latest to Apple’s model from last year?
I’m a bit late to this video, but it’s a goodie nonetheless:
While the Torch suffers in the video, I was quite impressed with the speed of the Captivate. The fluid touchscreen resembles that of the iPhone, which is light years ahead of anything RIM has out at the moment. It’s clear that iOS and Android OS is far superior to the BB OS 6.
I feel bad for Blackberry users, who have been waiting for something innovative to arrive from RIM. Don’t get me wrong, I love supporting Canadian companies but when it comes to mobile technology, it looks like RIM can’t get away from being labelled the “MySpace” of cellphone companies with their dismal offerings. Has anything really changed in the past 10 years?
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Haha entertaining. I agree with them it's a big step up for RIM but they really need to come out with a “Wow” device and soon. I admit I was intrigued by how fast the scrolling is on the Samsung Captivate and the Blackberry Torch when compared to the slightly slower Apple iPhone 4. The Captivate looks like a nice phone. I'm impressed with the speed of the iPhone 4 to render websites. I wonder how much of that speed is attributed to the external anntenna and to the better processor/increased ram over the 3GS vs the Captivate. Good stuff.
Yup, the Captivate was pretty smooth, but the sheer speed of the iPhone 4 was very clear in the video too.
I've never been “wow'd” by any RIM device. I understand the appeal to “suits” but for everyday consumers, Blackberries are a snoozefest.
I'm an iPhone user and prefer the iPhone. Blackberry knows its market and does very well at maintaining its reputation. The security on the blackberry is unmatched which is why “its good for business”. The security on the iPhone (even iPhone 4) is horrible. If you lose your device even an amateur hacker can access the raw disk giving them access to everything that is on the phone/was on the phone in the past few months including wifi passwords and in some cases recent key-presses stored in cache memory. The average Blackberry doesn't do much better but they do offer some great security for corporations and enterprises. Some even go so far to add key cards where if your blackberry gets too far from you, it becomes useless. Until businesses can trust having sensitive information on the iPhone blackberry won't go away. Other than that, I don't know what else they have. Their technology and usability is very good and the phones are high quality and efficient but there is nothing separating them from the high end smart-phone pack. There are too many other smart-phone companies out there now. BB won't go anywhere, but it does have a lot of worthy competition now (except for security).
The scrolling on the captivate didnt seem as smooth or as elegant as the iphone though
Wow, while I'm not a fanboy of any device, this is actually pretty sad to watch. For RIM's newest “iPhone killer” to get obliterated by the new iPhone is pretty bad.
Even these guys are admitting defeat. “C'mon BlackBerry”. LOL.
The blackberry torch is very rough when it comes to scrolling and zooming. RIM did improve but its still light years away from Android and even more for iphone.
Agreed. Granted BBMessenger is absolutely fantastic, but nowhere enough for me to rethink switching to an iPhone.
I had a hands on with an Android recently, was really impressed! But I think I still want iPhone over an Android. Sad to see the Torch in action, I was thinking about getting it as I am current BB user (old curve), but now I'm not so sure…
Wow on the Captivate, I am impressed.
well unless your a teenage girl, and bbm all your friends, i really don't see the draw with Black berry. Oh sure for business it filled a nitch, but that nitch is shrinking, and now iphone is being picked up by companies. It doesn't look good for RIM, ashame really, what happened to Canadian ingenuity? , it's slipping away at RIM.
This makes me feel great about my iPhone 4. Now I can shove this video in the faces of people who say apple is behind the curve. I don't care if the HTC grants 3 wishes I love my i4 and this video backs up the fact that it is an awesome phone. Although Samsung's Captive is looking like a good phone too.
As someone mentioned the Blackberry is known mostly for it's security. You wouldn't see an Android phone being widely used in business; it's just too much of a risk. Where my wife works (1000 + employees), the defacto phone is the Blackberry with the top execs using the 9700. I spoke to some of my wife's IT friends and they confirmed that the main reason the company is mainly Blackberry is because of security and admin doesn't care about graphics, media, frills, etc. There are too many security holes in both iOS and Android. As for me I carry the iPhone 4 and love every minute that I use it — iPhone apps are killer. I'm glad that RIM is beginning to catch up to the other smart phones, but Blackberries will continue to play a significant part in the mobile phone market. They shouldn't try to compare themselves to the other phones since iOS and Android just can't compete with OS 6 in terms of security. Look at what happened in the UAE and Saudi Arabia…
i watched this video about 3 days ago at crackberry (being an old Berry lover, i still check in) when i saw the torch i almost did a FacePam. seeing the keyboard sliding out in portrait making it a very long phone when typing, will be very top heavy lol. i got no hate for blackbery being an old user, but i think the torch design is a failure from the word Go. i love how the I4 Killed the BlackBerry on the web tests by 5 seconds+ almost every time lol BB choppiness too >.<. iphone i4 Wireless N rules lol
Exactly right. BlackBerry has a different purpose in mind. Although they are trying to get as much as the consumer market they can, their main client tell is interested in their phones being secure and reliable. For that, blackberry is still wayyyyy ahead of the iPhone and Android. These are businesses, cooperation, and government. If you have sensitive material in your email and your using a smart phone, that information is also in your phone. In the case of an iPhone that can easily be recovered with simple hacking skills even if its been deleted/password protected/wiped. iPhones just aren't secure. That being said, for most people iPhone better and a lot of people have both. BlackBerry won't die out anytime soon.
Ooooh poor poor Blackberry :'(
iPhone 4 + Samsung Captivate are looking rock solid 😉
Actually I'm pretty impressed with how the new OS works on BB Torch… I've got my BB Bold for the business use and iPhone for personal use, but I think BB is doing great on catching up with apple on the “WOW” factor part 😉 iPhone is defintly holding its head high in usability but if apple doesn't do anything about its security, BB will catch up in the next year or two 😉 BUT I love them both, for different reasons 😀
I agree. The iPhone was lightning fast. But you have to give the captivate credit for looking like a good phone based on the video. I love my iPhone (3GS… Waiting for the white one…).
I've never been wow'd but the latest BB Bold does look very classy. I like the white version too. But as for myself, I would still stick to the iPhone.
That is true. I just liked that it seemed faster and might be easier to flick to the top/bottom of a page/app. Sometimes tapping the status ba on the iPhone is tricky if your on a call for example.
That Captivate is actually a pretty sweet looking phone. But I love how the iPhone 4 smoked the Torch (pun intended) every time. 🙂
Played with the Vibrant (Bell's version of the Galaxy S, with front-facing camera for FaceBook videochat) at the Bell store last week and didn't like it as much as the iPhone 4 then… but went to compare the two with my parents yesterday and they both prefered the Galaxy S Vibrant due to the “much” bigger screen, lighter weight, the larger keyboard, the abundance of free apps, and ability to expand up to 32Gigs (or more?) via micro-SD (amongst other small things). I actually thought the heavier weight of the iP4 makes it feel more “substantial” and the Vibrant felt “flimsy”. However, played with their new phone today and am really starting to like it! The feel of the touchscreen is actually quite comparable to the iPhone's and the unit fits the hand even more ergonomically (I have a medium-sized hand). It's definitely a worthy competitor to the iPhone. I don't think Apple should be “cocky” regardless, but at this moment of the game, they definitely should smarten up.
I'm still waiting for my iPhone 4 (my first iPhone; I've been on a few Samsungs and HTC's) mostly because of the smaller size (vs. the Vibrant), heavier/sturdier feel, MP3 player layout, HD video quality, flash on the camera, abundance of cases (stupid, I know. haha), etc. Also, I figured that being Apples “only” phone, they would offer better software/hardware support a couple years down the road, while Samsung offers 10+ phones worldwide and thus might not be as focused especially a year or 2 down the roard… Am I stupid for waiting instead of getting a Vibrant?
one word: keyboard