RIM sets Blackberry Torch and Curve release dates

WE HAVE some release dates for the latest Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry smartphones, starting with the Torch 9860 Monza that will tip up on 26 September.

Announced at the beginning of August along with other handsets, the Monza is priced at £418 from Clove.co.uk. The Torch 9810 and Curve 9360 will be available from 3 October with prices of £478 and £298, respectively.

Clove said, "All three devices are now available to pre-order on the Clove website, although we currently await official confirmation on pricing. These dates are of course subject to change"

In comparison, rival retailers such as Amazon.co.uk have expected dates down as 15 October at the earliest for the Torch 9810 and dates in November for the other two handsets.

However, you might be able to get the handsets sooner than any of the above dates from mobile operators. Your best bet is O2, which has all three on its coming soon page with availability quoted for September.

All the handsets will feature RIM's latest Blackberry OS 7, which apparently has faster web browsing among other improvements. Torch models will have a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and the Curve will have one on the front.

The Torch handsets will be powered by a 1.2GHz processor whilst the Curve will have a less impressive 800MHz chip. All of these Blackberry smartphones will have a 5MP rear facing camera.

Update

Clove has issued a statement to say that the Torch 9860 Monza will arrive even earlier than first though.

It said, "We posted earlier to say that the BlackBerry Torch 9860 (Monza) was due to arrive on September the 26th. However, this date has been moved forward already and we are now told to expect stock on Monday 19th September." µ