RIM unveils new BlackBerry Torch phones

The three touchscreen phones,running on the new BlackBerry OS 7,each boast an improved screen display and pack a 1.2 GHz processor from Qualcomm,the most powerful ever for a BlackBerry phone. All three devices will launch with carriers globally by the end of August,RIM said.

The browser for the new phones is 40% faster than the original Torch,RIM’s last major phone launch which hit shelves almost a year ago. But since co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis has already promised “superphones” next year using the QNX-based operating system running RIM’s PlayBook tablet computer,analysts are looking beyond the launch.

“This is a necessary product refresh in advance of the big bang that we hope and expect will happen with QNX-based phones,” said CCS Insight vice-president of research John Jackson.

RIM shipped 13.2 million phones in the three months to late May,its first fall in shipments versus the prior quarter since at least mid-2007,as it pushed this launch back to August. RIM’s newly-promoted global head of sales Patrick Spence said BlackBerry heritage was as a leading communications tool and “what we’re talking about now with BlackBerry 7 is really enhancing that experience.”

Huawei swears by cloud-based phones

Beijing: China’s Huawei Technologies,the world’s number 2 network equipment maker,launched new cloud-computing smartphones on Wednesday,looking to ride a mobile industry boom that drove a 64% sales rise in its devices unit in the first half. The company,known for its low-cost cellphones,is betting cloud-computing smartphones will help it replicate its telecom gear success in the smartphone market and take on the likes of Nokia,Apple and Samsung Electronics. Huawei and Chinese rival ZTE Corp,which have traditionally concentrated on the network equipment business,are aggressively muscling in on mobile devices.