Watch RIM punish its BlackBerry smartphones

You may not realise, but gadget manufacturers generally put their products through hell before releasing them to the public in order to test how they react to rugged usage. Sometimes they even film the process, which means we get to watch gadget torture videos in our spare time like these clips from RIM.

The folks at RIM have just released a series of videos to YouTube showing some of the strenuous tests they apply to the company’s smartphones to make a better product. While watching a Curve 9360 take a bath in a special dye may not be to your taste, a slow motion video of the phone bouncing off the floor is somewhat addictive, while the stress test of a phone buckling as pressure is placed across its middle is like watching a close friend get kneecapped by a robot.

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what tests your smartphones go through or why, check out the BlackBerry blog after you’ve watched the videos – it’s a great read.