BlackBerry Passport to be out before the end of the year
Posted Sep 24, 2014 09:58:05 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BlackBerry’s Passport will be available at most carriers before the end of 2014.
The introductory price, $699 Canadian without a plan.
570’s Glenn Pelletier spoke with Chief executive John Chen who says that BlackBerry is determined to win back the Canadian home crowd.
The company says its latest device is being marketed towards business professionals — particularly in health care, government and the military — about 30 per cent of mobile phone users.
Today’s release also marks a strategic move under Chen’s plan to rescue BlackBerry from its tarnished reputation in the highly competitive smartphone market.
Video released by BlackBerry:
Since joining BlackBerry last fall, Chen has been tasked with turning around the struggling Waterloo, Ontario-based company and he has responded by cutting expenses across international operations, reducing the workforce and changing priorities to focus on business customers instead of the consumer market.
The Passport device is comparable in size to a Canadian passport, a point which Chen demonstrated by placing the device against the government-issued identification booklet.
The smartphone has a square screen that measures 11.4 cm (4.5 inches) and a keyboard the company says is four times more accurate for the user than the phone’s competitors.
Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy models have been encroaching on the enterprise market where BlackBerry was once considered nearly untouchable with its dominant market share.
The company responded by launching features in Indonesia like BBM Money, which allows users to pay through a BlackBerry Messenger app at participating retailers.
Blackberry has also opened up its secure enterprise platform to support Apple and Samsung smartphones.
As part of today’s unveiling, the company also debuted its new spokesman — The Great One — Wayne Gretzky.
Listen to what he had to say below:
