BlackBerry Passport, which features 4.5in square display, 3GB RAM and 3450mAh battery, is to be launched today
See related:
BlackBerry 10.3: Release date & features
The
BlackBerry Passport is now on general release in the UK, and available
to buy through the firm's website and exclusively from Selfridges for a
SIM-free price of £529.
It will also be available to buy via Carphone Warehouse from Friday, and through Vodafone's enterprise arm in due course.
The much-hyped device was unveiled earlier today at the Canadian phone maker's worldwide launch event in Toronto.
The event was presided over by BlackBerry CEO John Chen, and marked the official introduction of the device whose large square shaped looks, coupled with its 4.5in screen and physical QWERTY keyboard, have turned heads in the tech world since news of the Passport first broke in July.
During the event, Chen described the device as "iconic", while the Passport's launch was repeatedly billed as marking the big "Canadian comeback" of BlackBerry.
"We're determined to win our home country back. This is one of our first moves to do that," he said.
The firm has been through the wringer in recent years, having seen its mobile market share eaten up by the likes of Samsung and Apple, and its finances have suffered as a result.
During the event, Chen hinted that the company's past troubles are now behind it, ahead of its next set of financial results being released later this week.
"I've been here 10 months and we recruited a team, inside and outside the company, and we laid out quickly a few things: a financial strategy, a technical strategy...and a distribution strategy," he said.
"You will see the company making good progress in repairing all balance sheet items..."
Getting back to the Passport, he said the device is "squarely aimed "at the 30 per cent of smartphone users who choose their devices based on the productivity benefits they have to offer.
Perhaps, unsurprisingly, he also explained the inspiration behind its design was the humble passport.
"A lot of people when they first see this device... ususlly people look at it and say it looks a little different than expected. So I immediately pull out the passport and they realise it's the same size," said Chen.
"It's a size that can fit in a gentleman's pocket... and a lady's purse."
The company also used the event to treat attendees to a thorough walk through of some of the standout features of Blackberry 10.3, the operating system featured on the BlackBerry Passport.
These include BlackBerry Assistant, the firm's take on the virtual assistant offerings its rivals Apple, Google, and Microsoft offer, and its Natural Sound Technology, which is designed to adjust call volumes based on the environment the user is in.
The device costs $599 to buy SIM-free in the US.
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chen told the publication the company has deliberately kept the cost of it low to drive up interest in the BlackBerry Passport, before admitting it should realistically set users back around $700 when they buy it. "I figure that to try to get the market interested, we’re going to start a little lower than that."
Specs
The experimental design comes as BlackBerry continues to seek a form factor to pair its well-designed physical keyboards with a large screen. Current generation devices, such as the Q10 and Q5, have screens which are limited to 3ins in size and while the Z10 has a 4in+ display, it is touch-only.
Display
The Passport is set to include a 4.5in screen with a 1440 x 1440 resolution. This helps to give it a mammoth pixel density of 453ppi. To put this in context, it should be sharper than existing flagship devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 (432ppi) and the Apple iPhone 5s (326ppi).
It also sports Gorilla Glass to offer users better protection.
The most interesting feature is the square screen - which gives the device its unique look. This means users will no longer have to switch between portrait and landscape modes. This is crucial when you take into account the physical keyboard.
BlackBerry claims the Passport's screen size will make it ideal for looking at everything from schematics to x-rays, word documents and spreadsheets. Of course it's also going to make the handset ideal for web-browsing.
It will also be available to buy via Carphone Warehouse from Friday, and through Vodafone's enterprise arm in due course.
The much-hyped device was unveiled earlier today at the Canadian phone maker's worldwide launch event in Toronto.
The event was presided over by BlackBerry CEO John Chen, and marked the official introduction of the device whose large square shaped looks, coupled with its 4.5in screen and physical QWERTY keyboard, have turned heads in the tech world since news of the Passport first broke in July.
During the event, Chen described the device as "iconic", while the Passport's launch was repeatedly billed as marking the big "Canadian comeback" of BlackBerry.
"We're determined to win our home country back. This is one of our first moves to do that," he said.
The firm has been through the wringer in recent years, having seen its mobile market share eaten up by the likes of Samsung and Apple, and its finances have suffered as a result.
During the event, Chen hinted that the company's past troubles are now behind it, ahead of its next set of financial results being released later this week.
"I've been here 10 months and we recruited a team, inside and outside the company, and we laid out quickly a few things: a financial strategy, a technical strategy...and a distribution strategy," he said.
"You will see the company making good progress in repairing all balance sheet items..."
Getting back to the Passport, he said the device is "squarely aimed "at the 30 per cent of smartphone users who choose their devices based on the productivity benefits they have to offer.
Perhaps, unsurprisingly, he also explained the inspiration behind its design was the humble passport.
"A lot of people when they first see this device... ususlly people look at it and say it looks a little different than expected. So I immediately pull out the passport and they realise it's the same size," said Chen.
"It's a size that can fit in a gentleman's pocket... and a lady's purse."
The company also used the event to treat attendees to a thorough walk through of some of the standout features of Blackberry 10.3, the operating system featured on the BlackBerry Passport.
These include BlackBerry Assistant, the firm's take on the virtual assistant offerings its rivals Apple, Google, and Microsoft offer, and its Natural Sound Technology, which is designed to adjust call volumes based on the environment the user is in.
The device costs $599 to buy SIM-free in the US.
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chen told the publication the company has deliberately kept the cost of it low to drive up interest in the BlackBerry Passport, before admitting it should realistically set users back around $700 when they buy it. "I figure that to try to get the market interested, we’re going to start a little lower than that."
Specs
The experimental design comes as BlackBerry continues to seek a form factor to pair its well-designed physical keyboards with a large screen. Current generation devices, such as the Q10 and Q5, have screens which are limited to 3ins in size and while the Z10 has a 4in+ display, it is touch-only.
Think of the BlackBerry Passport as a phablet with a physical Qwerty keyboard.So what can we expect in terms of specifications?
Display
The Passport is set to include a 4.5in screen with a 1440 x 1440 resolution. This helps to give it a mammoth pixel density of 453ppi. To put this in context, it should be sharper than existing flagship devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 (432ppi) and the Apple iPhone 5s (326ppi).
It also sports Gorilla Glass to offer users better protection.
The most interesting feature is the square screen - which gives the device its unique look. This means users will no longer have to switch between portrait and landscape modes. This is crucial when you take into account the physical keyboard.
BlackBerry claims the Passport's screen size will make it ideal for looking at everything from schematics to x-rays, word documents and spreadsheets. Of course it's also going to make the handset ideal for web-browsing.
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