Vodafone will be one of the first carriers outside the US to carry RIM’s new BlackBerry Torch device, the vendor’s first touchscreen unit to feature a slide out qwerty keyboard.

 

The carrier’s UK division has opened pre-registration for consumers interested in purchasing the device, which RIM unveiled yesterday alongside an updated BlackBerry operating system.

 

BlackBerry Torch is RIM's first device with integrated support for its App World applications store, and it also comes pre-loaded with a number of social networking and entertainment applications including Facebook, Twitter and sports channel ESPN.

 

An integrated WebKit browser and tabbed browsing are also included.

 

Mike Lazaridis, RIM president and co-CEO, said the device is “one of the most significant launches in RIM’s history,” adding that the unit brings “exciting new dimensions,” to the BlackBerry platform when combined with the new BlackBerry 6.0 OS.

 

AT&T will launch the unit in the US on August 12 under a six month exclusive contract, WSJ.com reported.