Research In Motion’s “best BlackBerry ever” — the BlackBerry Torch — definitely wasn’t the most competitive device to hit the smartphone market place. But it looks like RIM is trying to change all that with a new take on its QWERTY, horizontal-slider: the BlackBerry Torch 2. BGR has exclusively obtained a photo of the BlackBerry Torch 2 along with the device’s full specifications. Was the Torch’s 600MHz CPU a bit too underpowered for you? You’re in luck, as we can now confirm that the BlackBerry Torch 2 will feature a 1.2GHz CPU with hardware acceleration. Full specifications after the break!

• 1.2GHz processor
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band HSPA 14.4Mbps
• 3.2-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive display
• 8GB built-in memory
• 512MB RAM
• Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS
• NFC
• 5-megapixel camera with flash
• Magnetometer
• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• 1300 mAh battery
• BlackBerry OS 6.1
• OpenGL ES
• 14.6mm thin

Yes, the BlackBerry Torch 2 looks very similar to the original Torch, and we’re told it’s basically the same on the exterior except for a matte silver finish. Internally, however, you can see that there have been quite a few changes made. The BlackBerry Torch 2 is tracking for a late Q3 release on AT&T.

It looks like the Motorola DROID 2 Global — which we were previously referring to as the DROID 2 World Edition — has been officially outed by Motorola’s website. The snippet seen above confirms that the device will indeed have a 1.2 GHz processor along with a 5 megapixel camera, Android 2.2 and a quad-band GSM radio. Now the only question Verizon customers will have to ask themselves is this: DROID Pro or DROID 2 Global?

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Well, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that Verizon seemingly has yet another new world phone coming its way, this time from Motorola. The bad news is that it’s definitely not one of the sexy new handsets we scooped last year. While we continue to wait (impatiently) for stunners like the Flash and Calgary, the upcoming A4500 (aka, Napoleon) will do little to appease our need for sleek new designs from Moto. It will however, service as a viable option for world travelers looking for a simple QWERTY option from Verizon complete with the ability to roam globally. Reported specs include CDMA, EV-DO, quad-band GSM, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity, a fingerprint scanner, a 2-megapixel camera, a memory card slot and of course the QWERTY keyboard. Also, Windows Mobile 6.1 is still the OS of choice of course. It’s not exactly exciting but it’s also not a bad package at the right price, we’d say. Sure, we scooped it to no end way back in July of last year but feel free to hit the jump for a few more shots from the FCC doc anyway.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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The official arrival of LG’s Viewty Smart might not have been as well coordinated as LG may have liked, but the highly-anticipated successor to the popular Viewty is now official. Featuring an 8 megapixel camera with a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, the Viewty Smart will be able to take pictures at up to 1600 ISO and record videos in “DVD-quality” with DivX and XviD playback to boot. Other than that, a 3″ touchscreen display with WVGA resolution, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, aGPS, Wi-Fi and the rather interesting 3D S-Class UI round out the rest of the 12.4mm thin package. So when can you get it and for how much? According to LG, Europeans will be the first to get a crack at the Viewty Smart this May and sometime after that it will start to trickle out across the globe. Pricing has not yet been made available. Hit the jump for a few more pics along with a promotional video.

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Not to rub salt in the wounds of T-Mobile customers who are still crying out for a 3G BlackBerry, but not even the Mighty Magenta could pull off a feat the likes of what Japanese carrier DoCoMo did: convince RIM to add in a fourth band of 3G on the Bold. That’s right, the Japanese Bold that went on sale over the weekend is a quad-band 3G device containing the 2100, 1900, 850 and 800 MHz bands of UMTS/HSDPA. It was wise of RIM to omit this intel from its English press release of course, because it would definitely cause T-Mobile customers to start complaining about the Bold’s lack of of AWS 3G. And just for those of you who are wondering, the 800MHz UMTS/HSDPA band is a part of DoCoMo’s FOMA Plus Area network which is used in rural areas where the low-frequency spectrum is better able to navigate long distances and mountainous terrain. Tell us, T-Mobile 8900 users, are you green with envy that Japan got a special HSDPA band put into the Bold or is UMA enough for you?

Thanks, Jeff!

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Never mind the fact that they’re just doing it to get free publicity and a head start on pre-orders, we absolutely love it when retailers give it to the manufacturers in the junk and out the specs of their phones just days before they’re official. Expansys is no stranger to this process and has done it again with the Nokia E75. We’ve seen the E75 countless times before and while we want it for reasons we can’t really describe we’re now in a position to say that the E75 won’t suffice to stave off our hunger for the upcoming N97. Why? High cost, a tiny display and poor screen resolution will do the trick every time. If you’re an S60 nut however, chances are you’re going to love what the E75 has got:

• Quad-band GSM / EDGE, dual-band HSDPA (900/2100) at 3.6Mbps
• 2.4″ 240×320 QVGA display
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, digital zoom, LED flash
• 30FPS QVGA video recording
• aGPS
• WiFi
• FM radio
• microSDHC
• 3.5mm headset, Bluetooth 2.0, microUSB
• Nokia Maps, PDF Document Viewer, ZIP File Manager
• Dual home screen (work/personal)
• 1000 mAh battery
• 630 mins talk, 408 hrs stand-by time

So what’s all of this going to cost? Early estimates are that the E75 will ship on March 13 for £389.99 SIM-free ($580 USD) or free on select tariffs from T-Mobile UK. Fail.

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This is a semi-rant, but can someone tell me why of all manufacturers, HTC has started to make devices that are no longer quad-band, and no longer have tri-band HSDPA? They were one of the first to finally get it right and support all bands, even back in the day with the original TyTN. From then on, almost every professional HTC device was quad-band and let us Americanos rock out with HSDPA. Can someone enlighten us? Why has the number one Windows Mobile manufacturer in the world removed such an essential feature from their new lineup? They pulled a Nokia and will start offering localized devices with local GSM bands. Oh yeah, the XPERIA, made by HTC, will be quad-band and offer tri-band UMTS/HSDPA. This, my friends, is not a step in the right direction… 

UPDATE: HTC hit us up and said that size constraints with the Touch Diamond was they weren’t offering a quad-band EDGE and tri-band HSDPA device…