RIM and AT&T Announce Torch for $199.99 on August 12th

As expected, RIM and AT&T have announced the forthcoming launch of the BlackBerry Torch slider for $199.99 beginning on August 12th.  The Torch will be the first BlackBerry device to feature RIM’s updated OS 6 operating system, which will feature a WebKit-based browser and universal search in a bid to compete with Palm and Google.

Technical specifications of the Torch consist of a 480×360 resolution capacitive touch display, sliding QWERTY keyboard, 512 MB of flash memory with 4GB of internal memory along with a microSDHC expansion slot; 5.0 megapixel camera with LED flash, video recorder and autofocus, speakerphone and Bluetooth with stereo audio support.  As is the norm with BlackBerry devices, GPS support is provided with aGPS support and dedicated transceiver.

The BlackBerry Torch will also introduce a new version of BlackBerry App World with support for carrier billing via AT&T (exclusive to the Torch for the time being), along with announcing a slew of new features for developers in HTML5 application development with access to hardware and operating system functionality such as the aforementioned universal search along with a new advertising API for developers to develop ad-supported applications.