Research In Motion (RIM) has launched its latest BlackBerry smartphone - and a new OS to run it - as it attempts to stave off market share erosion and distract attention from its troubles in the Gulf.
The company yesterday unveiled the BlackBerry Torch handset, and the BlackBerry 6 OS.
The BlackBerry Torch is a touch-screen smartphone, but also includes a physical keyboard.
The handset is RIM's first with integrated support for BlackBerry App World, and also comes pre-loaded with a number of social networking and entertainment applications such Facebook, Twitter and sports channel ESPN.
The handset will launch on August 12 in the US, exclusive to AT&T. It will be sold only in the US for six months, Wall Street Journal said.
This is a stark contrast to Apple's iPhone 4 launch, which hit five countries simultaneously in June and has since launched in 17 more.
BlackBerry 6 has a redesigned interface, RIM said, offering context-sensitive menus and a universal search bar capable of simultaneously searching the phone, the web and the BlackBerry App World store.
The phone supports internet access with an integrated WebKit-based browser with tabbed browsing.