According to latest estimates by Gartner, a technology research firm, the iPad is expected to end the year with 73.4 percent of the global tablet market, down from 83 percent in 2010.

Android’s slice of the pie will increase from 14.3 percent in 2010 to 17.3 percent this year, thanks to the success of low-end tablets in Asia and expectations around the launch of Amazon’s Android tablet.

Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said: “We expect Apple to maintain a market share lead throughout our forecast period by commanding more than 50 percent of the market until 2014″.

“This is because Apple delivers a superior and unified user experience across its hardware, software and services. Unless competitors can respond with a similar approach, challenges to Apple’s position will be minimal,” she added.

Milanesi noted that Apple had the “foresight to create this market and in doing that planned for it as far as component supplies such as memory and screen”.

This, she said, allowed Apple to sell the iPad at a very competitive price without compromising the user experience among different models with varying storage and connectivity options.

On the other hand, Android’s appeal in the tablet market has been constrained by high prices, weak user interface and limited tablet applications.

That said, Google is expected to address the fragmentation of Android across smartphone and tablet form factors in the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich release, Milanesi noted. Android can also count on strong support from key OEMs, its sizeable developer community and app ecosystem that’s second only to Apple’s, she said.

As for other platforms, Gartner said RIM’s QNX is promising, though its main challenge will be to attract support from developers while the company is going through a tough period.

While Windows 8 has been in the limelight lately, its late arrival may limit its appeal to consumers as Apple and Android will gain even more traction by then, the analyst said, adding that Microsoft’s platform will be more popular with enterprise customers who will benefit from better integration with Microsoft software.

Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner, said to break the iPad’s hold on the market and meet Apple’s prices without sacrificing margins, rival tablet makers should not compromise on screen quality and processing power.

“They should consider everything else ‘nice to have’, rather than essential, in order to keep bills-of-materials costs competitive with those of the iPad,” he said.

If you’ve been paying your credit card bills online, you should be familiar with the token PIN that’s required to access most Internet banking services in Singapore.

This security mechanism is commonly known as two-factor authentication (2FA), which requires users to enter a token-generated PIN, plus the usual username and password to access online banking sites and corporate networks.

Besides financial institutions, the Singapore government and some large corporations have also issued employees with tokens for an added layer of security.

My Gmail account was hacked last week and it was only then when I realised that Gmail has a little-known 2FA feature known as 2-step verification – at least I didn’t know about it until now.

Once you turn it on, anyone who tries to access your Google account on an unauthenticated device will need to enter a PIN generated by Google Authenticator, a smartphone app for iPhones and Android devices. In other words, your phone becomes your token.

Setting up 2-step verification is easy and Google has a detailed guide here. For those who want a quick run-down on how to do this, follow these steps:

1. Download the Google Authenticator app from the Android Market, iTunes App Store or http://m.google.com/authenticator for BlackBerry devices.
2. Sign in to the 2-step verification settings page on a computer.
3. Select your device (iPhone, Android or BlackBerry), and tap Next to generate a QR code that will be used to link your device with Gmail.
4. Launch the Google Authenticator app and tap on the plus icon to authenticate your Gmail account. Accounts can be added manually by entering your Gmail access credentials, or using a bar code scanner app to scan the QR code generated in Step 3. If you don’t have a scanner app, download one.
5. Click on next on the computer, then enter the verification code on your phone in the Code field and click Verify.
6. If the code is correct, a confirmation message will be displayed. Then, click on Next.
7. Now, you will see a list of backup codes that can be used to access your Google account if your phone gets stolen. Save this list or print it out, then click Next.
8. You will also be asked to add a backup phone number for a backup code to be sent to you if you lose your phone. Complete the set-up by sending a test code to the backup phone.
9. Once you are done, sign in as usual to your Gmail account. Check “Remember verification for this computer for 30 days” if you do not want to keep entering a verification code each time you sign in for the next one month.

Note: If you’re using your Google credentials to log on to third-party websites and apps, you may be prompted to enter an authentication code to access those websites.

Bought a new iPod/iPhone/iPad and looking forward to buying music for your new device? Local users have always been out of luck in that respect, as despite being the market leader for years, Apple has failed to bring its music download service to Singapore.

Now, a new software update to Research in Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will certainly be discord to Apple’s ears. The former has stuck a partnership with online music store 7digital to bring more than 9 million high quality MP3 tracks for Singapore residents to purchase.

The new Music Store app will allow users to search for songs, albums, and artists, as well as receive recommendations through a music discovery feature. Not sure whether a particular artist suits your tastes? The music store lets you preview tracks before plunking down the cash.

The cost of full albums on this new music store will range from S$8 to S$12, although users can also download just one or a few tracks if they don’t want the whole album.

However, the Music Store might be too little, too late. Although highly rated for its design and construction, the PlayBook’s lack of key apps such as a dedicated email client has hampered its early reception, especially when competing tablets running Android offers a full-featured experience.

Right now, the iPad sits at the top of the pile, commanding an impressive chunk of the tablet market share despite not having a music store.  Efforts by other computer manufacturers have failed to break Apple’s grip. The HP TouchPad, for instance, suffered a permanent price cut merely weeks after its launch.

But there might yet be a silver lining for RIM. A dedicated music store app is indeed a unique offering which could attract a select group of users. Currently, only the local telcos provide a relatively convenient way for their subscribers to purchase and download music.

22-year-old Luke Vijay Somasundram was one previous user of SingTel’s music service AMPed, but stopped because he found it wanting. “I didn’t like how the songs weren’t automatically added to my iTunes library,” he said. “Moreover, there was no clear to figure out how much the songs were costing me, or even if they were costing me anything at all.”

Somasundram welcomed RIM’s move to bring a dedicated music download app to Singapore. He added, “I’ve been waiting for years for the iTunes Store to be made available to Singapore but it looks like Research in Motion has beaten them to the punch.”

Nonetheless, it will be an uphill battle to unseat the iPad as the gold standard of tablet computing. Rivals like RIM can only hope to crawl back market share with these tiny differentiations in their products.

At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference this week, Apple unveiled iOS 5, the latest update to their mobile operating system. The update brings some interesting and long-awaited features to the iPhone and iPad. Strangely enough, although many of these features are blatant copies of existing functionality on other platforms, almost the entire blogosphere is falling over in praise for iOS 5.

I understand that the nature of the tech industry means building on one another’s work to bring the best feature set to consumers. Indeed, Apple has proven itself capable of refining existing technologies and paradigms and on occasion bringing additional functionality.

But this really is the first time I looked on an Apple presentation in disbelief: everything is so obviously culled from some other mobile OS or mobile app. Don’t believe me?

If you are hanging out with an iPhone and are eagerly waiting for iOS 5, which won’t land until this autumn, here are some of the most touted iOS 5 features you can get right now.

Notification Center

What’s coming: Finally. The iPhone’s current notification system, an intrusive pop-up window which interrupts whatever you’re doing, hasn’t changed much since the very first iPhone. With iOS 5, notifications present themselves as small, non-intrusive pop-ups that appear at the top of your screen for a short while, and poof, they vanish. A downward swipe from the top of the screen brings down a full menu of previously ignored notifications, which you can then dismiss at will.

Get it now! The new notification banner on the top of the screen is completely identical to Windows Phone 7’s style, save for some design differences. As for the pull-down notification menu, that’s Android’s idea through-and-through, and OEM enhancements have made Android’s implementation even more functional.

iMessage

What’s coming: A native instant messaging app that you can use to contact your other friends using iOS and iOS only. Group messaging, send pictures, contacts, etc., the works. Best of all, everything integrates into one thread for your reading convenience.

Get it now! Ever heard of the BlackBerry? Yeah, one of that age-old device’s key selling points is the BlackBerry Messenger. Or you could download various free texting apps like Kik Messenger, and Beluga, not to mention the venerable WhatsApp, which has been around for ages, and chat with your friends on Android and, soon, Windows Phone 7 (Mango) too. One of Mango’s most touted features is also integration of IM chats into your SMS stream!

Native Twitter integration

What’s coming: For some reason, Apple has chosen to integrate Twitter heavily into iOS, even though more people use Facebook. In Apple’s words: “Sign in once in Settings, and suddenly you can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, or Maps.” We hope that suddenness won’t give anyone heart attacks!

Get it now! In Android, you can integrate almost anything you wish to integrate, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, Google profiles, and more! Some additional contact and sharing integration for Twitter and LinkedIn has also been already announced for WP7 Mango.

Camera

What’s coming: In iOS 5, you’ll be able to access the camera app right from the lock screen. Plus, you’ll be able to use the volume-up button to snap pictures, making those self-snap moments infinitely easier. An app called Camera+ tried to implement this feature into their app in the past, but was blocked by Apple. I guess now we know why. Also, double tapping the home button when the screen is sleeping launches the camera immediately.

Get it now! Physical camera buttons have been a staple on feature phones since Nokia 7650, and it’s also an OEM requirement on Windows Phone 7. You can also launch the camera when a WP7 phone is sleeping and snap pictures without unlocking the phone.

WiFi sync

What’s coming: Tangle of white iPhone cables got you down? iOS 5 comes with Wi-Fi sync, which lets you transfer content from your computer to your iDevice without physically connecting them. Even better, Apple has removed the requirement that you connect every new iOS device to a computer to activate it!

Get it now! Android and Windows Phone 7 can sync wirelessly out of the box, and I never saw the need to connect my previous Android device to my laptop at all.

Multitasking gestures for iPad

What’s coming: Am I the only one who thinks the multitasking gestures for the iPad looks eerily like what Microsoft showed off for Windows 8 just last week?

Get it now! OK now I’m just cheating, sorry. Windows 8 is projected to be released in 2012, sorry, folks!

So there you go, several high profile iOS 5 features already in existence, as long as you can bear to break out of Apple’s ecosystem. I’m also pretty sure I missed out some other “copycat features”, so share your comparisons in the comments!

UNWIRED, Singapore’s first and only independent wireless and mobile conference, returned for a second run last Thursday, and saw the attendance of top-level executives from the relevant industries from across Southeast Asia.

Opened by the Infocomm Development Authority’s assistance chief executive Khoong Hock Yun, it featured half a day’s discussion on hot topics affecting the industry and its users.

From Singapore’s expected move to next generation mobile broadband (4G/LTE) to the rise of mobile computing and winning features of a mobile operating system, the conference was packed with fresh insights from a who’s who list of the country’s industry experts, who fielded a number of questions from the audience.

Of particular interest was the first panel, which starred Chan Kin Hung (head of products and solutions at Starhub), Chan Yim Leng (vice-president for consumer products at SingTel), Raymond Tan (former CEO of Berca Global Access), and Remus Tan (director of mobile networks from Tellabs). The discussion centered on the upcoming 4^th generation of cellular wireless standards, and their rollout in Singapore.

Some telcos, for instance in the US, have branded their networks as 4G, but there is currently no system which meets the 4G standards set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), although there are viable candidates. True 4G standards will be able to deliver all content, from voice to multimedia, over IP and provide a completely different user experience.

SingTel and Starhub are already conducting LTE technical trials, but the key driver, according to StarHub’s Chan Kin Hung, is devices that support LTE. SingTel’s Chan Yim Leng also cited the importance of establishing a regulatory environment as an important factor to get things going. The idea is thus for telcos to jointly roll out LTE with manufacturers and governments.

What about WiMAX, a competing wireless standard to LTE? According to Raymond Tan, the issue in many developing countries like Indonesia, where “outside of big cities, the closest thing to mobile broadband is GPRS”, is not speed, but stable throughput. WiMAX cannot provide spectacular speeds, but it can deliver stable rates of 1 to 2 Mbps, he said. Both telco panelists expressed that Singapore has no use of WiMAX, and that 3G is a more suitable standard locally.

The conference then moved on to the rise of mobile computing with a second panel made up of hardware makers. Spiros Nikolakopoulos, Motorola’s vice-president for mobile devices for Asia, called the new trend “converged computing”. Indeed, the rise of tablet devices has many people using computers when many have not even owned a desktop in their lives, he noted.

Moving forward, it is agreed that two largest issues facing mobile computing the battery life of devices and consumer education in the devices’ usage. As of today, most smartphones can barely last a day in usage. Consumers will also benefit from tips on how to get the most out of their new toys.

What will a winning mobile OS look like in the future? That was the topic for the last panel. Less than a year ago, iOS was the dominant mobile OS; now that crown belongs to Android.

If Marc Hopstein, Microsoft’s lead for Windows Mobile, APAC, is to be believed, people-centric communication and the ability to build an ecosystem around the OS are important.

But to a hardware manufacturer like Samsung, “building brand loyalty, regardless of platform” is the most important factor, said Winston Goh, product marketing manager of Samsung Asia. Customers must identify with the brand and stick with it even if they decide to jump platforms, and this is something hardware manufacturers must work towards.

The day culminated in a networking session at the hotel bar, with the first round bought by one of UNWIRED’s main sponsors Tellabs. (Never say no to free beer!) It was enlightening to listen to speakers who would not otherwise talk about what their companies are up to and what’s next for the industry.

See you next year!

What features would users expect from the mobile OSes running their handheld gizmos in the next six to 12 months? What will LTE and 4G bring to telecom operators when the speedy networks are finally rolled out? And how can organisations gain by creating mobile apps that tap on “the cloud” through their smartphones?

These are just a sample of the issues that industry leaders from Singapore and the region will be discussing at the upcoming UNWIRED 2011 conference on May 26, 2011.

In its second year, the event brings together the who’s who of the industry to identify issues facing the mobile and telecoms sectors as well as to find strategies for growth in the upcoming months and years. (click here for last year’s conference)

Opening the event this year is the assistant chief executive officer of the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), Khoong Hock Yun. The rest of the afternoon will see panelists from SingTel, StarHub, Motorola, Nokia, HP and many other organisations discuss the hot topic issues of the day.

This year, the focus is on whether LTE/4G can be the catalyst for change in mobile broadband, which, some say, has consigned telcos to being low-cost, flat-rate carriers offering “dumb pipes” for upstream services offered by Google, for example. The question on many lips is whether speedier LTE/4G services in future can be sold in a tiered manner, with quality of service instead of top speed as the differentiator.

Also, as important is the emerging mobile “cloud”. As more companies expand their cloud computing resources, how can they easily let corporate users log on to these cloud services via their mobile handsets and tablet computers?

And finally, the hottest topic will be on mobile OSes of the future. For some developers, it might make sense to lock on to one platform – be it iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows Phone – to trim costs while reaching out to an optimal audience size; yet for others, the variety means they are not taken for granted by a big platform owner.

Through three interactive panels, developers, users and other fellow industry experts are set to discuss these topics in depth. This year, expect no boring pitches and death by Powerpoint – just a good discussion of the issues.

Please sign up at the UNWIRED 2011 site. See you on May 26!

Details:
What: UNWIRED 2011
When: May 26, 2011 (Thursday), 1pm
Where: Amara Hotel, Ballroom 1 (Level 3). Directions here.

UNWIRED 2011 is organised by Techgoondu writer Alfred Siew, and Techgoondu is official online media for UNWIRED 2011.

With the number of mobile phones and tablets being launched, it is essential to keep up or get left behind.

This is the driving idea behind multimedia software giant Adobe shortening their product update releases for Creative Suites, their flagship bundle of graphic design and web editing tools. Previously, Adobe was on a 18 month cycle between major releases, but now, new “mid-cycle” releases are planned every 12 months, with major releases every 24 months.

At the Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 media launch event today in Singapore, Adobe’s regional director for SE Asia Vicky Skipp said that the change in the launch cycle was informed by their customers.

“If we had to wait 18 months for a new release, we might be out of the game in certain markets,” she said.

Specifically, the market that Adobe is talking about is the mobile one, and the day old Creative Suite 5.5 has a raft of updates to make things easy for digital publishers to publish content on various mobile platforms.

For example, there are huge updates to HTML 5 and Adobe Flash authoring tools in Creative Suite 5.5, allowing developers to deliver applications on Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS and iOS easily. The idea is to create one stream of content, and Adobe’s Creative Suite will take care of all the porting between different mobile platforms.

A second major component is new levels of interactivity for page layouts, specifically targeted at tablet devices. Using InDesign, designers can add video, audio, panoramic views, 360-degree object rotation, pan and zoom of images, and integration of HTML/HTML5 content into interactive overlays for tablet applications.

An FAQ of what the new 5.5 version release has can be found here.

When asked who was the target audience, Vicky conceded that it was less likely to be individuals who have purchased Creative Suite 5.0, which was just launched last year on April 30th. It is more likely that Adobe will target customers who are still using version 3.0 or 4.0.

“The important thing is that we need to keep up to date with the speed of change [in the mobile market],” she said, adding that there are enterprise customers who want to see constant updates.

One major thing missing from the Asia launch is that the monthly software subscription model — probably the most interesting aspect of how Adobe is changing the way it is sold through a cloud-based model — is not available yet for the region.

Vicky stressed that it is high priority for them, but unfortunately was unable to give a ballpark timeline and said that they would announce it when they were ready. She added that Asia is not homogeneous, unlike the US, and setting up the infrastructure and channels would take slightly longer.

The estimated street price for Creative Suites is expected to be:

• US$3159 (S$3970) for Creative Suites 5.5 Master Collection
• US$2309 for Creative Suites 5.5. Design Premium
• US$2185 for Creative Suites 5.5. Web Premium
• US$2065 for Creative Suites 5.5. Production Premium
• US$1579 for Creative Suites 5.5. Design Standard

Creative Suite 5.5 will be shipped in the region on May 3rd.

They should call it iPad 1.5, said a pal of mine, of Apple’s iPad 2 featuring an “all-new design”. Other detractors called it “underwhelming”, while yet others said it was “evolutionary, not revolutionary”, but that’s putting things nicely.

The truth is, after all the rumours and usual hoopla surrounding Apple launches, what characterised the new tablet computer from the market leader seemed to be what’s not there. So, what was so disappointing about last night’s launch, where Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance?

Let’s start with what’s new. Okay, the iPad 2 is slimmer and lighter – two main things that will win over many new buyers, for sure.

Then it’s got a dual-core processor and dual cameras now, which would have been quite a big deal if these features hadn’t already been unveiled months ago on the Motorola Xoom and soon on just about any Google Android to hit the stores this year.

But what is most disappointing is what’s not there on the iPad 2. First, the much-expected upgrade to the sharp “Retina” screen that is now on the iPhone 4 doesn’t make its way to the new iPad. It’s still the same old screen, at the same 9.7 inches.

What about LTE and 4G, new mobile technologies that would have boosted downloads for videos and other apps, some of which are in several dozen megabytes and currently require a Wi-Fi connection on the iPad? Nope, not there either.

This is the year of the iPad 2, claims Apple, but we’re not so sure. Yes, the iPad 2 stands up well to competition from Android tablets this year, because it’s an enhancement of an already well-made product.

But what Apple hasn’t done is address a lot of grouses. The new iPad is still stuck with iTunes and doesn’t have external memory card slots. It still needs a PC to sync, as one gadget site writer pointed out sharply in a Tweet:

“‘The iPad is a true post-PC device.’ First thing you have to do when you turn on an iPad? Hook it up to a PC.” - Dave Schumaker of gdgt.

Sure, there’s an Apple add-on to get the pictures off your camera to the iPad, but that’s US$29 for the hardware. Want to hook up to your TV to play your movies? Pay US$39 for an AV dongle.

Some folks will still fork out those amounts, simply because they can afford it. Others will say they do it because they love their iPads. But the difference from last year is that there are good alternatives now – you don’t have to do things Apple’s way.

New Android tablets out this year will not just come with memory card slots built in but also HDMI ports to hook up straight to your TV, so Apple looks more like a rip-off to folks who refuse to play by Steve Jobs’ rules.

At the same time, the iPad’s iOS looks increasingly dated when compared to the rich multi-tasking you can get on competing tablet OSes that have been shown so far, say, on Android Honeycomb or RIM’s Playbook.

To be fair, the iPad 2 should sell well and keep Apple in pole position in 2011. It had a headstart of 90 per cent of the market last year, according to research firm Ovum, which also predicts that Google Android won’t lead the market until 2015. That’s when Android’s share would be 36 per cent, compared to Apple’s 35 per cent.

So, is 2011 the year of the iPad 2? I think those who have held back from buying an iPad would go for the iPad 2 now, since it costs the same (from US$499) as the older model and looks like a good deal.

But will the new device be “magical” and “revolutionary” and rock your world? It’s telling when the rumour mill is already going on about an iPad 3.

Apart from its brand new BlackBerry 6 OS, the Bold 9780 looks like the twin brother of the Bold 9700.

When I first saw the Bold 9780, I was hard-pressed to find anything new in this latest BlackBerry number.

The only differing trait is its black trimmings along the edges of the phone. The Bold 9700 shares the same fittings in chrome.

The Bold has everything going right in a qwerty form factor, including a compact body and a much acclaimed keyboard.

Compared to the Blackberry Torch’s flat keys, the Bold 9780′s raised keys are more responsive with good tactile feedback.

Typing on the Bold 9780 beats punching letters on a touchscreen. I was also typing faster with fewer typos on the Bold than on an iPhone 3GS.

On the small 2.4-inch display, which is a pleasure to use with its vibrant colours and razor-sharp text, you have scroll quite a bit with the optical track pad to read long e-mail and text messages.

Browsing the Web on a long commute gets tedious, especially if you are used to generous screen estate on devices like the HTC Desire HD.

Beneath the hood lies a 624MHz processor with 512MB of memory. Overall, the BlackBerry OS 6 feels speedy while navigating the menu and running several apps in the background.

I won’t go into the details of BlackBerry OS 6, which I’ve covered in an earlier review of the Torch 9800. However, fitting a non-touchscreen device like the Bold 9780 with an OS that better suits a touchscreen phone like the Torch means you have to scroll extensively with the track pad.

For example, to view incoming messages on the Torch 9800, you simply tap on the e-mail icon on the notification bar. On the Bold 9780, you have to reach for the bar and click on the track pad to dig into your mailbox.

Bottomeline: With a tried-and-tested design, the new Bold is obviously aimed at existing BlackBerry users, not the iPhone and Android crowd.

But there is little reason for current Bold 9700 owners to upgrade – unless you want the BlackBerry OS 6 badly and a five-megapixel camera. At some point, RIM needs to come up with a touchscreen version of the Bold to standardize the BlackBerry 6 OS experience across all its devices.

The Torch is a marked improvement over its predecessors, with a new BlackBerry OS 6 that offers a more intuitive user interface, a faster Web browser (through its acquisition of Torch Mobile), a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen and better integration with social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The phone is well-built, with a screen that slides upwards to expose the Qwerty keyboard. The sliding mechanism is smooth and offers good tactile feedback, unlike the Motorola Droid which can be difficult to slide open at times.

Those who are not used to a BlackBerry keyboard could take a while to acclimatize to the keys and the layout of symbols, numbers and punctuation marks. Though the keys are small, I managed to type comfortably with good accuracy, though those with larger fingers might encounter more typo errors. For folks who prefer to use a touchscreen to type, there’s an onscreen keyboard that will be activated when you slide the screen back down.

Other standard BlackBerry device features include the call and cancel buttons, plus the lock and silent mode buttons on the top left and right edges of the phone.

There is also an optical track pad for you to control the mouse cursor when you’re browsing the Web. Or, use it to navigate the phone if you prefer not to use the touchscreen. I found myself using the optical track pad more often while typing on the hard keyboard since the track pad would be closest to the fingers.

The first thing you’ll notice about BlackBerry OS 6 is its revamped home screen. Menu items can now be grouped into various categories including Favorites, Frequent, Downloads and Media. Your Favorite menu items are not limited to applications – you can also add website links or phone book contacts for quick access.

A new notification bar sits on top of the home screen to alert you to incoming messages, Twitter messages that make references to your Twitter handle and Facebook notifications. While you can jump straight into your inbox and Twitter from the notification bar, you have to fire up the Facebook app manually after receiving notifications on friend comments and requests.

In BlackBerry OS 6, there’s also a unified mailbox that not only includes e-mail and text messages, but also tweets that reference your Twitter handle. You can choose to read only e-mail messages in a separate inbox labelled with your e-mail address, though strangely, sent e-mail messages can only be read in the unified mailbox.

Setting up my Gmail powered e-mail account on a custom domain was surprisingly easy. I simply entered my e-mail address and password, and Starhub’s BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) configured the account automatically to work with the Torch. There wasn’t a need to enter POP or IMAP mail server addresses.

While Web browsing on the Torch has improved significantly, it is still a tad slower compared to the browsing experience on the iPhone and Android devices. Font rendering slows down when zooming in and out of webpages. Though the Torch’s browser can render HTML5 elements, Flash is unsupported.

The other big thing in BlackBerry OS 6 is the universal search feature that lets you search everything you have on the phone including apps, contacts, messages and calendar entries. You can also do a Google search, or a Google Local search to limit your search results to your current location.

The Torch comes with a five-megapixel camera which is capable of shooting images of decent quality. There are also various scene modes for you to play with, including one that helps you detect and focus on faces in your shots. A flash light is also handy for illuminating subjects in dim lighting conditions.

BlackBerry has bundled a variety of apps in the phone. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter work out of the box, while additional apps can be downloaded from the BlackBerry App World. Some BlackBerry apps, such as Salesforce.com and CNET News, are still unpolished compared to their iPhone and Android counterparts. Their awkward user interfaces and rough-looking fonts are made worse with a 480-by-360 pixel display that falls short of rival smartphones.

Bottomline: The Torch is a leg up over earlier BlackBerry handsets in usability and features, particularly in its integration with social networks that are fast becoming indispensable in business and private life. It remains the king of the hill in messaging, but that advantage is eroding as other smartphone platforms vie for a slice of the enterprise mobility space.