It was two months ago when Blackberry first announced the all-new BlackBerry Passport. Just today, it officially launches in the Philippines for the price tag of Php 35,790. The event was held at Cafe Romulo, Makati, Philippines.
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| Cameron Vernest, Managing Director Of BlackBerry Philippines & Singapore |
Cameron Vernest, the managing director of BlackBerry Philippines and Singapore first showcased the BlackBerry Passport to the media earlier. He said, “We are excited to mark a new milestone for BlackBerry here in the Philippines, with the introduction of the first square screen design and touch-enabled keyboard smartphone – the BlackBerry Passport. Aimed at mobile professionals and equipped with the new BlackBerry 10.3 OS, this groundbreaking device will allow users to elevate their productivity and collaborate more effectively. The BlackBerry Passport will definitely be the talk of the town, breaking through the sea of rectangular-screen, all-touch devices.”
BlackBerry Passport Features and Highlights
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| Damian Tay, Senior Director for Product Management- Asia Pacific |
Damian Tay, the Senior Director for Product Management- Asia Pacific, conducted a brief demo of the handset and highlighted 5 key features of the BlackBerry Passport:
1. 4 1/2 -inch Display and 1 x 1 Aspect Ratio
From the name itself, the Blackberry Passport's body is as the same size of a passport. It sports a 4 1/2 inch display (1 x 1 aspect ratio) and the latest Gorilla Glass 3. Its screen is optimized for reading e-book or PDF and also for creating content as it can fit up to 60 characters per line. Check out the images below to see how an e-book, PDF file or a website will look like on BB Passport.
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| How an E-book will look on BlackBerry Passport |
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| PDF File on BlackBerry Passport |
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| Website's Home Page |
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| Article on a website |
2. QWERTY Touch-enabled Keyboard
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| Damian Tay showing the media how the QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard works! |
Damian Tay showed us how the new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard works. A PDF file was opened, then he tried to scroll the entire file by swiping both thru the screen and the keyboard (it also functions like a trackpad). He also showed us the keyboard gestures available such as "Swipe left to delete" and "Swipe down to show symbols".
2. Long Battery Life, Up to 30 hours of mixed use!
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| Flip to save power feature! |
The BlackBerry Passport features 3,450mAh non-removable battery. Damian Tay boasted that it can last up to "30 hours of mixed use". The handset also has a battery saving feature that can be enabled somewhere in the settings. Refer to photo above. :)
4. Amazon App Store
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| BlackBerry Passport Apps - Amazon App Store |
Damian Tay also mentioned to us that BlackBerry already partnered with Amazon. As part of their partnership, the Amazon App Store comes pre-loaded on the BlackBerry Passport. This is where you can download popular consumer apps including Android games and apps. I'm not sure though whether all Android Apps will be available there, but this is something to look forward because you're not limited to BlackBerry Apps only.
4. BlackBerry Blend
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The BlackBerry Blend brings messaging and content on your BlackBerry smartphone to your computer and tablet. Through Blend, you will be able to get instant message notifications, view and respond to your e-mail, SMS or BBM, and access documents calendar, media in real time.
BlackBerry Passport Specifications
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| BlackBerry Passport |
To give you a brief summary, the BlackBerry Passport sports a 4.5-inch square touch display and the new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard, built for productivity-driven business professionals. The 3-row touch-enabled keyboard features contextual auto-correction, next word prediction and personalized learning engine.
It is powered by 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor paired with 3 GB of RAM. It also features 32 GB of RAM, expandable up to 128GB via microSD card, 13 MP rear camera, 2 MP front camera, 3450 non-removable battery and BlackBerry 10 operating system.
- Display: 4.5-inch Square touch display, 1440 x 1440 resolution (453 ppi)
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, Quad-core 2.26 GHz Krait 400
- GPU: Adreno 330
- RAM: 3 GB
- ROM: 32 GB, expandable up to 128 GB va microSD
- Rear Camera: 13 MP AF OIS camera with LED flash
- Front Camera: 2 MP
- Battery: 3450 mAh non removable battery
- OS: BlackBerry 10
- Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n for 2.4GHz, 802.11 a/n for 5GHz, 802.11 ac for 5GHz, 4G Mobile Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (LE)
- Sensors: Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyroscope, Time of Flight (ToF), Ambient light
- Others: 1080p HD video recording at 60 fps, Capacitive touch 3-row BlackBerry® Keyboard, USB 2.0, Miracast
- Dimensions: 128 x 90.3 x 9.3 mm
- Weight: 196 g
- Price: PHP 35,790.00
BlackBerry Passport Pricing & Availability
BlackBerry Passport is now available in all authorized retail stores and carriers such as Globe and Smart. It will retail at Php 35, 790.00!
BlackBerry Passport Hands-On
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Ooops :) Getting more excited? Check out our BlackBerry Hands-on and First Impressions article. Go to this link:
http://www.geekypinas.com/2014/11/blackberry-passport-hands-on-exciting.html#axzz3K4VNnCWR
Have fun! :)
