Canada based BlackBerry has launched their latest smartphone targetted for the enterprise customers which is dubbed as BlackBerry Passport. The BlackBerry Passport features a large square touch screen and new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard.
The BlackBerry Passport is inspired by the size of actual passports, which symbolises mobility and the modern business professionals also reflect the same character. The size and form factor of BlackBerry Passport is such that it is not only portable but can be easily carried in the pockets. It is made of forged stainless steel and the display screen comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for the added strength.
The BlackBerry Passport features a 4.5-inch 1440×1440 pixel resolution (453 dpi) IPS LCD display with the three-line hardware keyboard with capacitive touch sensitivity. You can scroll web pages, flick to type or slide along the keys to move the cursor, leaving the full screen space for viewing. In other words, the users can type on the Passport’s keyboard to enter text, or swipe lightly across it to navigate through the phone. The company claims that BlackBerry Passport’s new QWERTY keyboard is almost four times more accurate than BlackBerry 10 virtual keyboards – the error rate is on average 74% lower.
The BlackBerry Passport is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with Adreno 330 GPU, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage, which can be extended upto 128GB via microSD card. It is equipped with a 13-megapixel rear OIS camera with a BSI sensor and also houses a 2-megapixel front camera. This smartphone is fuelled by a 3450mAh battery, which is claimed to provide up to 30 hours of mixed-use life.
The dimesnions of BlackBerry Passport are 128×90.1×9.3 mm. For connectivity, it offers options of Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, NFC, GPS, DLNA, Glonass, GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, and 4G LTE etc.
The BlackBerry Passport runs the latest BlackBerry 10.3 operating system, which has new features such as BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry Blend and Amazon Appstore. It has a fresh look that incorporates updated icons and an instant action bar so that each user’s most commonly accessed functions are in the center of their screen.
With BlackBerry 10.3, the users of BlackBerry Passport will get access to the Amazon Appstore for Android, which will come preloaded on BlackBerry Passport. The latest Android games and apps, such as Minecraft – Pocket Edition, Candy Crush Saga, Pinterest, Temple Run 2 and Cut the Rope 2, can be accessed through Amazon Appstore.
BlackBerry Blend feature has been introduced on BlackBerry Passport, which enables you to use your smartphone onto your computer and tablet. You can get instant message notifications, read and respond to your work and personal email, BBM or text messages, and access your documents, calendar, contacts and media in real time on whatever device you are on.
BlackBerry Passport will work across desktop operating systems, including Mac OS X 10.7 +, Windows 7+ and Android tablets running Android 4.4+ via cellular, USB or Wi-Fi connections. The downloadable version of BlackBerry Blend for Macs and PCs is now available at www.BlackBerry.com/Blend, on the Apple App Store for iPad tablets, and the Google Play Store for Android tablets.
The BlackBerry Assistant is BlackBerry’s first digital assistant and can be used with voice and text commands to help users manage work and personal email, contacts, calendar and other native BlackBerry 10 applications. BlackBerry Passport also comes with powerful speakers and a quad microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience.
The BlackBerry Passport is now available in Canada at a suggested introductory retail price of C$699 ($629) and $599 in the United States. These prices are for unlocked version. BlackBerry Passport would be available in more than 30 countries before the end of the year.
The BlackBerry Passport is expected to be launched in India on 29th September, which is one of the msot important markets for BlackBerry. The company has sent out media invites for an event in New Delhi, where BlackBerry Passport will be launched.
