Name: Torch 9810
Brand: Blackberry

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Maps and apps

We've said this a million times but we'll say it again for the million and oneth time. Hopefully RIM is listening: WHY DO YOU STILL BOTHER WITH BLACKBERRY MAPS?

It's the most underwhelming piece of software ever.

We're not going to go into the reasons that we hate it, because we'll end up in rehab again. But if you want any useful mapping software that's not slow, buggy and dreadfully poor at scanning around once you've buy a BlackBerry Torch 9810, immediately delete BB Maps, Download Google Maps and move on.

Anyway, speaking of GPS, it's a good chip. It locked on in under 20 seconds for the first time, and every time after that it was fairly responsive. We had no complaints.

App-wise, you're catered for quite well out of the box. Goodies include Documents To Go (We remember the day when all you got was a free trial!) and Compass (a new addition, but one we can't see many people using on a daily basis).

The usual suspects include MemoPad, Tasks, Password Keeper and BlackBerry's new BlackBerry Protect app, which brings the extreme corporate protection BES users benefit from to the many BIS users.

The inbuilt organiser is also standard BlackBerry fare, and if you use it for BES or something like Google Calendar, you'll have no complaints. We found it synced perfectly and did the job well.

BlackBerry's new Universal Voice Search is on board, but we don't think it's anything to write home about. Words were often misunderstood and you still have to press buttons, unless we were doing it wrong. It makes the whole point of a hands-free system fall flat on its face.

There are only two games on board the BlackBerry Torch 9810 (BrickBreaker and Wordmole), which seems a bit stingy compared to what we used to get from BlackBerry. But that's not really something we can complain about too much, since the AppWorld has lots more.

But AppWorld's still not the best software store, if we're honest. Apple, Android and Microsoft all have offerings that are far more fluid and aesthetically pleasing, have more apps and, crucially, are cheaper.

But let's not forget you're not limited to the AppWorld channel – places including Handmark are still in operation, and it will always serve you well to shop around for apps.