BlackBerry Passport Wants to Make It Hip to Be Square
Will square phone be the hit BlackBerry desperately needs?
— -- There's something a bit different about being served a square slice of pizza. The same can be said about BlackBerry's new square smartphone.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen unveiled the company's new Passport phone today at an event in Toronto where he explained the virtues of the square device -- and cracked a few jokes at the expense of Apple.
"I will challenge you guys to bend a Passport which you are about to see," he said, referring to reports that some users have inadvertently bent their iPhone 6 Plus devices.
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Chen teased the audience by first pulling a Canadian passport out of his suit jacket pocket. Then the CEO pulled out the BlackBerry passport.
He said comparing the two items side-by-side is important so people won't be daunted by the size of the BlackBerry.
"Because we based the phone on the format of a passport, there’s a sense of familiarity when you hold it in your hand," Chen said.
Jeff Gadway, head of product and brand marketing at BlackBerry gave a side-by-side comparison between the iPhone 6 and the BlackBerry Passport to show why the wide, 4.5-inch square screen is to the benefit of BlackBerry's target audience of business people.
"Today, professionals are doing their best to work on narrow smartphones," he said. "Passport is all about working wide."
The phone can show 60 characters per line on its touchscreen, making it easier to read, write and edit documents on the go, Gadway said.
The Passport also comes with a touch-enabled keyboard, an improved audio experience, a new Siri-like personal assistant and up to 30 hours of battery life between charges.
While Apple had a dazzling performance from CEO Tim Cook and U2 at its high-powered launch earlier this month, BlackBerry, a Canadian company, brought out hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to give a brief spiel on why he's loyal to the brand.
"Go to where the puck is going to be not where it was," Gretzky said he remembered his father would tell him. "Blackberry has that figured out. They do a nice job."
The BlackBerry Passport is available from the company's website for $599 without a contract. It will also be available at AT&T, however, it was not immediately known what it would cost with a contract.
The device is the third phone BlackBerry has released this year. The company will release a fourth, the BlackBerry Classic, before the end of the year, Chen said.
The release comes at a pivotal time after BlackBerry completed a restructuring process and is trying to keep its brand alive.
"If you guys don't support us then you've got some problems," Chen joked in front of the crowd in Canada. "We're determined to win our home country back!”
