TORONTO – BlackBerry executive chairman and CEO John Chen paraphrased a line from a popular Huey Lewis and the News song Wednesday while showing off the company’s new Passport smartphone. “It’s cool to be square”, he laughed, in reference to the device’s unique, square-shaped touch screen.
At ease on stage during the splashy event held at a sports bar in downtown Toronto, Chen cracked jokes and played up his love for Canada, calling Passport’s launch the start of “a great Canadian comeback story”. Even Canadian icon Wayne Gretzky was on-hand to praise the company and the new device. “I have been, from day one, a BlackBerry user and really, really believe in the product”, the Great One said. “(BlackBerry) is one of the great Canadian companies… right here in our own backyard.”
Chen said that the Passport “is squarely aimed at the 30% of the user base that likes a keyboard and long battery life. The device is packed with power.”
Inspired by the size and shape of actual passports, the BlackBerry Passport features a 4.5” square touch screen, which company executives say makes it easier for its targeted market of mobile professionals to “work wide”- i.e. read and write emails, review and edit documents, plus browse the web. It also has a physical keyb
oard that doubles as a virtual keyboard and boasts 30 hours of battery life.
As one of the first devices to launch on the BB 10.3 operating system, the Passport comes preloaded with BlackBerry Blend, a new app that connects messaging and content on a BlackBerry smartphone to a PC and tablet. It also includes BlackBerry Assistant, a command program that can be used with either voice or text instructions, plus access to the BlackBerry World storefront and Amazon Appstore.
With simultaneous launch events in London and Dubai, the BlackBerry Passport is available immediately in Canada, the U.S., U.K, France and Germany, with at least 20 more countries to be announced later this year. An unlocked Passport in Canada is priced at $699, and Telus announced an introductory offer of $200 for the device on a two-year plan, a deal that expires on September 30 when the price climbs to $250. The Passport will also be available at other Canadian carriers starting October 1st. Stateside, the Passport retails for $599 and AT&T is its exclusive carrier.
“We’re determined to win our home country back”, Chen enthused. “So this is one of the first moves to do that.”
