BlackBerry Torch Gets Official and Brings OS 6.0 With It, Hits AT&T On August 12th For $199

At RIM's event this morning, they of course announced the arrival of the BlackBerry Torch (9800) and their OS 6.0. The smartphone itself has just gotten official and I think the best thing about OS 6.0 is the inclusion of their new WebKit browser. Of course, there are other things that OS 6.0 offers like integrated socials feeds from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Thankfully, RIM has also decided to use a standard multitouch display over their SurePress touchscreens (found on the Storm 2 and the original Storm). Anyways, the stuff about the new OS below is from Electronista, while the spec sheet is thanks to Unwired View because I'm too lazy to type them out again - they're exactly what I mentioned this morning. This smartphone will be available on AT&T starting on August 12th and it'll cost you $199.99 on a 2-year contract. No word on the Canadian release yet.

Update: According to Slash Gear, the Torch will be coming to Vodafone UK. The "Coming Soon" page isn't up yet but it should be in the near future.

Update: Mobile Syrup has just pointed out that the Torch will be coming to Telus in Canada. That is all.

Update: Another Mobile Syrup post has just mentioned that the Torch will also be hitting Virgin Mobile in Canada. Where's Rogers in all this?

Update: Engadget Mobile has just mentioned that Globe and Mail said that the three major carriers (Rogers, Bell, Telus) in Canada will be launching the Torch. On a separate confirmation, Rogers (here) has said that it's coming soon.

Update: According to Slash Gear, there's another carrier you can add to the list and it's Orange UK. They just tweeted it here.

The new OS also enables syncing music over Wi-Fi rather than just using the Media Sync conduit app with iTunes or Windows Media Player. Messaging fans are served by a new version of BlackBerry Messenger that supports up to 10 simultaneous people and locations. The phone is the first BlackBerry to finally have App World already pre-installed, catching up with access to a built-in store much like Android and iPhone devices have had since 2008. Previous models had to download the app afterwards.

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz)
• Quad-band UMTS (2100 / 1900 / 850 / 800MHz)
• 3.2 inch, 480 x 360 pixels touchscreen display
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Full HTML tabbed browser (based on WebKit) with pinch-to-zoom capability
• BlackBerry Enterprise Service and BlackBerry Internet Service
• Social networking integration (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace)
• 5MP camera with flash
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB onboard memory
• 4GB memory card included
• 1300 mAh battery. Talk time: up to 5.5 hours; stand-by time: up to 13 days (on 3G)
• 111 x 62 x 14.6 mm
• 161.1 grams

[Unwired View, Electronista]