BlackBerry launches Passport, new app

BlackBerry Ltd. launched a new smartphone, the Passport, on Wednesday, as well as an app that brings content from BlackBerry smartphones to computers and tablets. The Passport, revealed at a launch event in Toronto that featured hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, is aimed at professional users, the company said in a press release, has a physical keyboard, as well as a 4.5-inch touchscreen shaped like a square and is roughly the size of a Canadian passport. “The BlackBerry Passport was created to drive productivity and to break through the sea of rectangular-screen, all-touch devices,” BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in the release. The physical keyboard doubles as a touchpad, the company said. The Passport runs mobile apps from both the company’s own BlackBerry World and the Amazon.com Inc.'s Android app store on the latest BlackBerry operating system. At the event in Toronto, Chen said the phone is available to purchase immediately for $699 in Canada without a contract. That brings the Passport in at $50 cheaper than the non-subsidized price of new iPhone 6 from Apple Inc., the price of which Chen told the Wall Street Journal on Monday he wanted to undercut. Telus Corp. said in a media advisory it would offer the Passport for $200 "for a limited time" until Sept. 30 with two-year contracts, available immediately. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. said it will start carrying the Passport on Oct. 1 for $199.99 with two-year contracts. The company also released details on a new app, BlackBerry Blend. The company said in a press release the software will allow users to “bridge the gap” between their smartphones and other devices such as desktop computers and tablets, bringing notifications, instant messages and documents together into one app. Blend will run on all major platforms for desktop computers and tablets, the company said, and allow the user to “respond to work and personal messages, and access documents, calendars, contacts and media in real-time on any device, while never having to worry about their security being compromised.”

BlackBerry launches Passport, new app

Brief | September 24, 2014

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BlackBerry launches Passport, new app

Brief | September 24, 2014

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