At the moment, Blackberry’s two main focus seems to be on the Blackberry Z10 and the QWERTY-powered Blackberry Q10. What does the company’s future hold though? According to a new patent, we could soon be seeing a BB10 device that features a sliding keyboard and looks like it could be a new BB10 member of the Blackberry Torch series.

The USPTO document was filed back in December of 2011 and doesn’t actually give out any details outside the lock. Instead it shows a phone that looks rather similar to the Blackberry Z10, save for the sliding keyboard. This could be perfect for those BB10 fans that want a physical keyboard but at the same time want to have a big enough screen to enjoy the much-improved touch features found with the latest Blackberry OS.

What do you think of the above Torch-like Blackberry device? Would you be interested in such a phone?

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As I mentioned in my post last week, it’s still a little murky as to whether the team in Waterloo will opt for a Torch-like slider form or a Bold-like bar phone for the keyboard-touting BB10 device, but it’s just as likely that they could go in both directions to give consumers a little more choice. It’s also unclear, though, how long we’ll have to wait before we see the launch of a BlackBerry 10 smartphone with a physical keyboard; we just know that it’s coming eventually.

Either way, RIM is hard at work making what it hopes to be the best virtual keyboard out there, so maybe even BlackBerry purists will finally be able to abandon the array of buttons and opt for a touchscreen-only experience moving forward.

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On the AT&T side of the equation, they’ll have three phones with BlackBerry OS 7. First, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is much like the older Torch, except it’s been rehashed with a faster 1.2GHz processor, HD 3.2-inch screen, 8GB internal memory, and HSPA+. You can expect that to launch this month. Also coming to AT&T with BB OS7 are the Bold 9900 and the Torch 9860, the latter of which is AT&T’s first touchscreen-only ‘Berry. Those two should launch later this year.

On the Sprint side of things, they’re moving forward with BlackBerry 7 by providing two handset choices. The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is essentially a Sprint-friendly version of the 9900, giving you a 10.5mm profile, 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, a wide QWERTY keyboard, and NFC. The BlackBerry Torch 9850 comes with a 3.7-inch screen (the largest ever on a BB). Both come powered by a 1.2GHz processor, plus Liquid Graphics technology for a better “visual experience.”

The specs are good, but I think I’m with everyone else on the ‘Berry front: we want to see how a QNX-powered BlackBerry would fare in this world of Gingerbreads, Mangos, and iOS.

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The BlackBerry Torch 9800 Photo: Gizmodo

Gizmodo got their hands on one of the first BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphones from RIM.  Their verdict? The screen has such a low-res, it’s like going back to SD after watching HD for a year. It’s a 480×360 display and a “grisly sight,” the text is jaggy and ugly when compared to an Android or iPhone display.  Why RIM did not advance their display technology, especially after seeing the fantastic response Apple received from their fancy Retina Display is beyond me.  Unfortunately, the BlackBerry 6 software we were hoping would make a big difference – has not really changed much.  Giz explains “The software is a mess and fixes none of the major problems with BlackBerry.”

RIM put 512MB of ram inside, which matches the iPhone 4.  But with a 624MHz processor, it’s still crippled.  “It often hangs and stutters moving from app to app.”  Universal search is perfect, it finds exactly what you need, whether it may be an mp3, contact, or file.  Just start to type it out, and it’s there.

Some good points about the Torch are that it’s still built like a BlackBerry, tough and reliable.  The keyboard is fantastic, and its probably the best BlackBerry ever made, but that isn’t saying much in a world with the HTC Incredible, Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone 4.

Check the full in-depth review over at Gizmodo.

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