BlackBerry Torch arrives to much fanfare

Last night in Toronto at the Dolce Social Ballroom seemed like another Toronto International Film Festival party.  There were celebrities, media, loud music, free drinks and lots of food.  Only this time it wasn't a TIFF party.  It was Research in Motion's coming out party for their new BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone in Canada.

When it comes to throwing parties, it would seem that RIM knows how to do it right.  Your little Toronto Techvibes Community Manager rubbed shoulders with the likes of George Stroumboulopoulos, Ben Mulroney, and Steve Anthony. 

There were also the who's who of Toronto's digital community including Erin Bury, Mark Evans, Amber MacArthur, Rob, Miranda and Mary from Rogers' Social Media team, Corey from TheCellularGuru.com, Soniya Monga, Breanna Hughes, Polar Mobile's Marlon Rodrigues, Dave Fleet, and Rob McNabb from Zoompass.

But enough about the party.  Here's a quick rundown of what to expect from the Torch:

This new, and highly anticipated, device comes with a variety of features that any discerning smartphone user would be used to and would come to expect:

• BlackBerry's foray into a touch screen form.
• sliding keyboard for users of BlackBerry who need to "feel" buttons.
• the much anticipated BlackBerry 6 OS.
• Social Feed feature which allows users to combine their contacts’ updates from their favorite social networks, allin one place.
• Universal Search which allows users to just start typing to find content on their BlackBerry or the web, regardless of whether they’re looking for contacts, messages, music, pictures or appointments.
• and much, much more.

Word on the street is that Rogers is working around the clock to ensure that the Torch goes on sale at their retail outlets this Friday across Canada.