<b> Text: Hitesh Raj Bhagat, ET Bureau </b> <br> <br>This is what BlackBerry’s latest flagship looks like – due for an official, global unveiling today, it’s called the Passport and should be priced at $599 without contract. <br><br> The Passport should make you stop and look – and that’s primarily because of the unusual square form factor. <br> <br> Every other smartphone is rectangular so this choice seems odd – BlackBerry’s findings suggest that this format is better suited to real work – documents, schematics, spreadsheets, diagrams, x-rays and so on will be easier to see, with lesser scrolling and zooming. <br><br> Luckily, if you’re curious about the device, you won’t have to wait too long since the India launch is just a few days later on September 29.
BlackBerry calls the Passport’s keyboard ‘revolutionary’. <br><br> This isn’t just a physical QWERTY– apart from the square touchscreen, the keys are also touch sensitive. <br><br> By lightly brushing your fi ngers over the keys, you can scroll around the screen or precisely place the cursor in a block of text for editing. <br><br> This means that the screen stays unobstructed when you need it the most.
Agencies
4/5
Smart features retained
The keyboard retains smart features from the virtual keyboards on BlackBerry phones. <br><br> For instance, a swipe to the left on the keyboard will delete the last word and fl icking up on the keyboard selects one of the suggested words (it gets better as you type). <br><br> Apart from the 3 physical rows, a fourth virtual row on the screen offers contextual keys like symbols/numbers.
Agencies
5/5
Comes with latest version of BB10
The Passport will come with the latest version of BB10 (10.3) which includes Amazon’s App Store by default. <br><br> Other phones running BB10 were always compatible with Android apps but the inclusion of the App Store means that getting any app you need is easier than ever. <br><br> The update will also make its way to other BB10 devices like the Q10, Z10, Z30 and so on.
