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TMCNet: Begone, iPhone; he's hot for Torch

[August 28, 2010]

Begone, iPhone; he's hot for Torch

Aug 28, 2010 (The Free Lance-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- LIKE A LOT of people, I carry two cell phones. One is my work phone and the other is my personal phone.

In my case, my personal phone is also a work phone right now because I'm spending a lot of time on the road promoting a book I wrote. I spend most of my spare time, including vacation time, hopping from place to place trying to sell books.


So while my shiny new iPhone 4 was a fun toy as a personal phone, it was about to cause me to have a massive coronary last week by dropping calls or failing to connect on them at the most critical moments. These weren't "Honey, stop off at Wawa and bring home a carton of milk" calls or "Where do you want to meet for a beer?" calls.

These were "'Morning Joe' sent the car to the wrong hotel and you've got 20 minutes to get to the studio or you lose a national TV segment on the book" calls.

I know, I know. Apple has 225,000 apps for the iPhone and a lot of them are amazing. And RIM has "only" 9,000 apps for its new BlackBerry Torch.

And the iPhone 4 is prettier than the Torch.

And I know that I'm going to get a ton of e-mails from people with iPhone 4s who say they've had absolutely no problem with dropped calls because of the "Death Grip" antenna problem and that the iPhone 4 is the greatest technological advance in the history of mankind.

And if you carry a BlackBerry, you're supposed to be old and stodgy. And OK, I am old and stodgy.

But when missing a call can cause you to pee your pants, you tend to go with what you know and trust. And I'm that scared of blowing chances with the book. I've had several AT&T BlackBerrys in the past and never had a problem with dropped calls despite the conventional wisdom that AT&T's network is the problem. I don't think that's the case, even though it's overtaxed in New York and San Francisco. I've had a great experience with AT&T's upgraded network with every phone except the iPhone 4. So I traded in my iPhone 4 for an AT&T BlackBerry Torch last week.

I have not missed or dropped a call since. While the phone part of the iPhone is an afterthought, the Torch is a superb phone: Great connectivity. Landline-level call quality. Great form factor for talking on the phone. In a word, it's dependable. In two words, the iPhone 4 -- at least my iPhone 4 -- was fun and undependable.

Like the iPhone 4, the BlackBerry Torch is a touch-screen phone. Unlike the horrendous BlackBerry Storm, the Torch has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that makes sending e-mails and texting easy -- which has always been BlackBerry's biggest strength. You can also type on the Torch touch screen, but you probably won't want to.

The resolution on the Torch's 3.2-inch touch screen is OK for YouTube videos but not so good for watching movies. It can't compare with the dazzling, HD screens on the iPhone 4 or the Droid X or Droid 2 or the Samsung Captivate. The iPhone 4's screen is truly amazing. But, like I said, I'd rather be able to pay the bills than watch a movie in HD on the train. Anyway, that's what an iPad is for. The BlackBerry Torch may actually be better than the iPhone for listening to music on its built-in speaker, because it's louder.

The new BlackBerry 6 Operating System makes this the best BlackBerry ever. The web browsing experience is vastly improved. Downloads are faster than with previous BlackBerrys, but slow compared to the zippy iPhone 4 and Droid X. You can customize the Torch's home screen. The multimedia experience is better. It has universal search. Its integrated social feeds feature makes it easy to keep up with Facebook, Twitter and MySpace in one place. I love its 5 megapixel camera, but it only shoots VGA video.

There's one saving grace in terms of cool factor. This is one BlackBerry you don't have to wear on your belt. The Torch's design makes it easy to carry in your pocket without accidentally calling someone or "butt-typing" a mobile Facebook post.

The Torch also keeps your pants dry by connecting on those important calls.

Michael Zitz: 540/846-5163 Email: mikez@freelancestar.com To see more of The Free Lance-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://fredericksburg.com/flshome. Copyright (c) 2010, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544).

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