R-I-M New Phone & New O/S Rewarding Investors, So Far (RIMM, T, AAPL)

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) has delivered on its new phone.  The question is whether you will like the name of it… TORCH.  R-I-M is selling the BlackBerry 6 smartphone called the BlackBerry Torch exclusively via AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).  The Torch tries to appeal to both touch screen and keyboard fans by using either a touch screen or trackpad and QWERTY keyboard in a slider form factor.

The company also has the Software Developers Kit launching today.  Some of the features being touted are Next-Gen messaging, multiple web pages and application access simultaneously, social networking feeds, a 5 Mega-Pixel camera, and Wi-Fi network support.  The Data Plus plan has 200 MB of data for $15.00 per month and the Data Pro version has 2 GB of data for $25.00 per month.  The price of the phone is $199.99 with a two-year contract.

Research in Motion shares are now up 2.3% at $58.30.  Despite the U.A.E. issues, this is the highest level seen since its earnings disappointment last month.  Hopefully this runs Flash where Apple does not.  The product specifications do not confirm that it is Flash compatible, but the web video presentations are all running on Adobe Flash.

Is this an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) killer?  No.  Will it compete for some of the same dollars spent?  Sure.  The Torch is on AT&T.  The iPhone is on AT&T.  Apple shares are only up 0.1% but its stock has also recovered losses from down around $260 this morning.

You’ll have to decide whether you want a Torch next to your ear or not.  Some of these phone names are getting a bit out there.  At least R-I-M didn’t name it Pixi.

JON C. OGG