Research In Motion (RIM) will launch three new BlackBerry smartphones based on the new BlackBerry 7 operating system – the company’s first handset releases since the Bold 9780 last November. Devices will begin shipping later this month.

The Bold 9900, Torch 9810 and 9850 were unveiled to journalists at a global launch event held in central London this morning (August 3).

The launch of the handsets will be RIM’s largest ever and more than 225 carriers and distribution partners have already commenced or completed over 500 significant programs for these new devices.

All devices will run the BlackBerry 7 software which the company said is its fastest ever and 40 per cent quicker than BlackBerry 6 OS.

The Bold 9900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone yet at 10.5mm thick and the first to offer a keyboard and touch display integrated within the Bold design. It is expected to go on sale in the UK on August 15. The 9900 will be the first from the company to include built-in support for NFC.

The Torch 9810  features a 3.2-inch touchscreen, slide-out keyboard, HD video recording and 8GB of memory. The Torch 9850 (pictured left) features a 3.7-inch touchscreens, the largest ever on a BlackBerry smartphone.

All five phones are powered by a 1.2GHz processor and include ‘liquid graphics’ which RIM claimed offers the smoothest and most responsive BlackBerry user interface to date.

A new version of Facebook, Facebook 2.0, will be available and now includes Facebook Chat. A new version of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), which RIM said has more than 45 million users, will also be made available.

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Apple’s iPhone was said to be the most popular brand. However, teenagers appeared to favour RIM’s Blackberry devices.

The report notes that the increased uptake of smartphones has led to a dramatic rise in mobile internet use.

Facebook was the most visited website on handheld devices, with 43 million hours spent on it in December 2010.

Ofcom’s annual Communications Market Report combines the regulator’s own research with work carried out by other industry analysts.

The 341-page document provides a comprehensive snapshot of the UK’s TV, radio, internet and telecommunications consumption.

On mobiles, it said that 58% of adult males owned a smartphone compared to 42% of females.

Among teenagers the trend was reversed with 52% of girls using smartphones against 48% of boys.

Although Apple’s iPhone was a favourite device for 32% of adults, among teens its popularity was dwarfed by the Blackberry, which 37% of young people identified as their preferred brand.

Many of those taking part in Ofcom’s survey confessed to being obsessed with their smartphone. 37% of adults and 60% of teenagers described themselves as “addicted”.

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