I was so excited to receive the new Torch. I currently have a Storm 2 and love it but the enhanced features of the Torch really made me sit up and take notice.

Size wise the Torch is pretty much the same size and weight as the Storm and only slightly heavier than the Curve 8900 at that. The keyboard slides out easily and is easy to type on without looking. Typing on the reduced-size keyboard on the screen is easy to adjust to,  and the only issue I had with the Torch's keyboard was when I was trying to insert my SIM card, as I had a small issue getting the back cover off because I kept sliding the keyboard out by mistake. I figured it out eventually and thankfully taking the back cover off is not an everyday occurrence.

The new touch technology took a little while to get used to. The Storm uses SureType, which requires that you push a little harder than the average touch screen. The Torch goes back to a traditional touch screen and is quite sensitive - but once I had gotten used to that it was smooth sailing. The optical trackpad is better than the trackball could ever be, but with the touchscreen right there under your thumb, it makes me wonder what if there's actually a point to having a trackpad on this device.

As is usual for a BlackBerry, setting up my e-mail was a breeze, taking less than 5 minutes to do. I haven't had a chance to transfer my contacts and calendar details onto the Torch but Im confident that the process will be as hassle-free as the email was. I really was interested in seeing what BlackBerry OS 6 was like, and I must say that I really liked the new functional layout of the icon-based menus that is BlackBerry OS 6 and in particular I liked the  'Frequent' menu that updates to show you the applications and services you use the most. This is great, because it makes using the phone that much more intuitive.

The new tabbed browser is fantastic, I often search for information on actors and TV shows while we are watching and being able to open more than one tab is genius. With the new OS 6 came WebKit support which means that web pages load better, and look more like they're supposed to. BlackBerry are finally on their way to resolving their browser issues, and I think that it's about time, too. 

Over all I am really enjoying using the Torch and cant wait to dig a little deeper, and really see what RIM's latest device is capable of.