RIM Lighting Up the BlackBerry Torch Smartphone in Australia

Highly anticipated BlackBerry Torch 9800, first to feature BlackBerry 6, combines touch screen and easy-to-use keyboard plus rich new browsing experience

Sydney, Australia - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone in Australia. The BlackBerry Torch is the world’s first smartphone to combine a user-friendly BlackBerry® keyboard with a full touch screen experience and the first to include the new BlackBerry® 6 OS.

“The BlackBerry Torch has been highly anticipated here in Australia and we are very proud to be launching this innovative new smartphone with our carrier partners,” said Adele Beachley, Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, Research In Motion. “The new BlackBerry Torch smartphone builds on the familiar and powerful capabilities of the BlackBerry platform to provide the features that are ideal for socially connected consumers while also providing the tools that business customers trust.”

The new BlackBerry Torch features an exciting combination of a large touch screen, optical trackpad and backlit slide-out BlackBerry keyboard. It offers support for high-speed 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) networks around the world, includes the latest generation in Wi-Fi® (b/g/n) connectivity and features built-in GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. Its 5 MP camera takes exceptional pictures with continuous auto focus, image stabilisation, scene modes and zoom, and it also supports video recording. In addition, it comes with a combined 8 GB of media storage out-of-the-box and includes a microSD/SDHD memory card slot that can bring the total storage memory to 36 GB for customers who want more.

BlackBerry 6
The BlackBerry Torch is the first BlackBerry smartphone to launch with BlackBerry 6, a new operating system that retains the trusted features of the BlackBerry brand while delivering a rich experience that’s powerful and easy to use. It includes expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), and provides integrated access to BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), Facebook®, Twitter™, MySpace™ and various instant messaging applications available on the BlackBerry Torch smartphone. Its enhanced multimedia experience rivals the best in the industry and includes a dedicated YouTube app and Podcasts app.

BlackBerry 6 has a redesigned interface and integrates a new and rich WebKit-based browser that renders HTML web pages (as well as HTML email) quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. It features tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, pinch to zoom for easy navigation and a zoom feature that can intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page's key elements (simply double-tap on the BlackBerry Torch).

“One of the new features of BlackBerry 6 that I particularly like is Universal Search,” said Beachley. “It is easily accessible and allows users to search through everything on their handset – email, messages, contacts, music, videos and more – as well as extend their search to the Internet or to discover applications on BlackBerry App World™.”

Pricing and Availability
The new BlackBerry Torch smartphone is expected to be available from Optus ‘yes’ stores from the 21 October 2010. The BlackBerry Torch 9800 will be available from Telstra and VHA in the coming months. Please check with carriers for in-store dates and pricing.

About Research In Motion (RIM)
Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionised the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

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