Blackberry Building a Square Phone

Blackberry is previewing its newest phone, the Passport, which has received flack for its square design, wide screen and cumbersome size. But the company also seems to be trying to salvage Passport’s reputation by making a case for the phablet.
The once-unstoppable phone company released a statement on its official blog Tuesday lauding the Passport’s features. The screen is 4.5 inches — twice as wide as the iPhone 5S screen — in order to maximize reading, BlackBerry claims.

“Based on academic typology, the optimal number of characters on a line in a book is 66 characters (current rectangular smartphones show approx. 40 characters and BlackBerry will show 60 characters),” the statement reads. “BlackBerry Passport offers its size and aspect ratio to accommodate these characters.”
BlackBerry also reasons that the wide screen is useful for viewing medical charts, spreadsheets and other more detailed documents.

“Anyone who thinks a screen like this will be useful for reviewing medical imaging has never reviewed medical imaging,” user Richard Betel wrote in a comment on BlackBerry’s blog. “That aside, I think the first thing I’ll be doing when I get my hands on a demo is put it in my pocket: I wonder if it will fit?”

The phone’s layout also lacks a full keyboard, omitting several popular keys like shift and caps. The company explains this decision by saying that it helps writing efficiency and speed because “when you are looking to type stories or notes, your virtual keyboard doesn’t cover most of your screen.”

A spokesperson for BlackBerry stated that the phone will hit the market in the fall. The cost of Passport has not yet been released to the public.

Author: Katie Nelson
Source: Mashable