TORONTO — The Blackberry Torch will not be released in Canada on Friday after all. Rogers announced that the release of the highly anticipated smartphone, which has a touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard, has been delayed by Research In Motion (TSX:RIM). Rogers now says it will be available starting Sept. 30. Bell had previously pushed back its release date to Oct. 1. But its website currently says “coming soon” and lists no specific date.
Telus also had to push back its Torch launch and hasn’t listed a new release date. Virgin Mobile last said that it will start selling the phone Oct. 1.
Up until Wednesday, Rogers had been insisting on its RedBoard blog — which communicates news to customers — that the Torch release would go ahead this week, despite conflicting answers from staff at the company’s retail outlets.