By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN - BlackBerry refused to cede the smartphone market to Apple on Tuesday, with the launch of the BlackBerry Torch, the company's new combination touchscreen and slide-out-keyboard phone.
In addition to the phone's versatility — the iPhone's lack of a tactile keyboard is one of the few complaints among users — the BlackBerry Torch is hoping to win over customers with a stronger emphasis on multimedia apps and social networking, including a unique inbox that pools together emails, instant messages, and updates from Twitter and Facebook.
The launch comes just one day after Nielsen Wire reported that BlackBerry is continuing to lose market share to its competitors. The report found that while most BlackBerry owners plan to switch to an iPhone or other device running Google's popular Android system, few non-Blackberry users were planning on switching to BlackBerry.
The company is hoping to reverse the trend with the BlackBerry Torch, a marked improvement over their previous failed attempt at a touchscreen phone, the Storm, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, was derided for being "behind the pace of innovation set by Apple and Google."
In addition to BlackBerry's efforts to catch up with the social networking craze, the Torch offers a number of multimedia apps. In addition to an AT&T Web Video Search, which allows users to search video content from over 70 major Internet video Websites, users can download and watch live TV shows and create video content and upload it to YouTube.
The new device will be exclusive to AT&T, will retail for $199.99 and be available August 12.
