BlackBerry’s Passport is a bargain-priced, square phablet for the enterprise
There’s fantastic news out of Waterloo, Ontario, for those of you feeling nostalgic for physical keyboards on mobile phones. BlackBerry Ltd. will begin selling the uniquely shaped Passport smartphone on Wednesday.
Originally announced during BlackBerry’s quarterly earnings call in June, the struggling device maker designed the Passport specifically to appeal to enterprise users. The 4.5 inch square screen is said to have exceptionally high screen resolution, with 1440 x 1440 pixels, and 453 ppi pixel density. This will allow for far more characters to be seen on each line, which would be beneficial when large amounts of information need to be seen at once, such as is often the case in the medical industry.
Some users feel that physical keyboards allow for faster, and more accurate typing. The Passport’s touch-sensitive keyboard will perform double duty, allowing users to swipe and make gestures, as well.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen revealed another part of his plan to regain lost market share: strategic pricing. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Chen suggested that the fair market price for Passport would be in the range of $700. In an effort to boost interest, the phone will retail for $599, without subsidies.
The Passport is the first major handset launch since last year’s BlackBerry 10 models. Despite dwindling handset sales, Chen has demonstrated that he’s determined to bring this area of the business to profitability. His goal is to offer enterprise customers a complete solution, which requires robust handset and services divisions. The staggering 96.4 percent combined market share of Android and iOS continues to grow, and it will be a difficult trend to reverse. BlackBerry’s focus on the enterprise could be the Passport’s saving grace. That, and other unique advantages, such as the designation of BlackBerry 10 OS by the U.S. Department of Defense as the first and only Full Operational Capability mobile device, is reason enough to continue monitoring BlackBerry’s comeback efforts.
photo credit: SimonQ錫濛譙 via photopin cc
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