Today RIM and AT&T have launched the new Blackberry Torch 9800. Despite having a dumb name this device looks amazing. The integration of a QWERTY keyboard and a touch screen really does fit my need for a cross over device. Despite only having a 3.2″ display, a 5MP camera and no HD to be found any where, the new OS6 does bring lots of modern social media functionality to the blackberry. To quote one blogger “it’s not all that future proof” of a device but RIM has been leaning towards tried and tested more then bleeding edge.

Rogers and Bell, the two major carriers in Canada have also said they will be carrying the Touch, but typically, the launch date and pricing are to be determined. This gives me some time before I sign on the dotted line to look at a few more Android devices that are slated for launch in Q3. As I have said before the iPhone is not an option in my mind, as I depend to heavily on my current blackberry as my primary communication device. The new Torch will allow me to keep my beloved QWERTY keyboard and move into a touch screen device.

The one thing I hesitate the most on is the lack of open source roots. I love the open source community and believe that open source development has the potential to be superior to closed source development teams. However RIM does have an advantage of developing the hardware as well as the operating system. This advantage can help make the device a more stable and reliable marriage of software and hardware, but it can stifle creativity for third party applications. Although RIM doesn’t have the walled garden style of application approval that Apple has, RIM has built some hedges around their core functionality which I feel limit some of the developer creativity. I think a more open development environment would bring a new wave of amazing applications for the blackberry.

With that said I still have a couple of months before I can arm twist my carrier into a slightly early hardware upgrade. Until then I look forward to getting some hands on time with a Torch or two (I have friends on the inside at RIM) and I wait with anticipation for some of the new Android devices slated for release over the next couple of months. Now if I just had a friend on the inside at Samsung or HTC.