BlackBerry Passport unveiled in Nigeria

BlackBerry Limited has launched the BlackBerry Passport, a new device built for productivity, in Nigeria.

Featuring a large square touch screen, new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard and BlackBerry’s latest 10.3 operating system, the BlackBerry Passport gives users a wider vision to do mobile business without compromising portability. 

Speaking on the occasion, BlackBerry Territory Director (West Africa), Charles Asinugo told reporters in Lagos that the firm is being re-engineered to become the market leaders.

Asinugo said John Chen is repositioning the firm to assure the customers of security, productivity and collaboration, adding that Nigeria remains central to its business.

Blackberry had named Chen as its interim chief executive officer. Chen had said the management changes at the firm were aimed at refining the company's strategy "to ensure we deliver the best devices, mobile security and device management".

The BlackBerry Passport encourages productivity with a 4.5’’ square touch screen that optimizes screen real estate to enable users to read 60 characters per line, whereas a typical all-touch device in portrait orientation only displays 40 characters. When you combine this with a revolutionary touch-enabled keyboard, you will be able to get more done on your smartphone, without feeling the need to turn to your PC or tablet to read and write emails, view maps, surf the Web or edit documents.

It explained that its key features include its innovative screen which is a 4.5’’ square full high definition (HD) screen and a pixel density of 453ppi, offering the best resolution of any device in its range including the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6 Plus; its best-in-class battery power at 3450mAh, makes the device to be able to be alive for up to 30 hours of mixed use.

The BlackBerry Passport’s revolutionary new keyboard brings innovation to input with a responsive touch surface that lets you perform many touch functions directly on the keyboard. You can scroll web pages, flick to type or slide along the keys to move the cursor, leaving the full screen space for viewing while the device is built for the most demanding user using durable materials mixed with top-of-the-line technology, including a Gorilla Glass display with 1440 X 1440 resolution, Quad Core 2.2 GHZ Processor, 3 GB RAM, 13 MP OIS rear Camera and 32 GB memory.

It comes preloaded with the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system, including new features such as BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry Blend and Amazon Appstore. It has a fresh look that incorporates updated icons and an action bar so that each user’s most commonly accessed functions are in the center of their screen.

The BlackBerry Blend seamlessly brings messaging and content that is on your BlackBerry Passport to your computer and tablet. Get instant notifications, read and respond to your work and personal messages, and access your documents, calendar, contacts, BBM and media in real-time on supported Mac OS, Windows and Android devices, powered by your BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry Assistant is BlackBerry’s first digital assistant and can be used with voice and text commands to help users manage work and personal email, contacts, calendar and other native BlackBerry 10 applications. BlackBerry Assistant intelligently determines how to respond to you based on how you interact with it – if you type, it responds silently, if you speak, it speaks back and if you activate over Bluetooth, it speaks back with additional context because it assumes you might not have access to the screen.

BlackBerry World showcases essential apps for the BlackBerry Passport smartphone customer, including productivity apps like Bloomberg Professional. Get the best on BlackBerry World, uniquely suited to you.

Preloaded on BlackBerry Passport Amazon Appstore which can access popular consumer apps through the Amazon Appstore, including the latest Android games and apps, such as Groupon, Netflix, Pinterest, Candy Crush Saga and Minecraft.

BlackBerry Passport comes with powerful speakers and a quad microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so you don’t have to.