BlackBerry Passport; yay or ney?

First of all, I would like to say that I didn't give any expectation on this phone's launch before I attend this event. With the fact that BlackBerry has obstacles to shines among other OS's phone in the pas 2-3 years, and the whopping price tag of RM 2,399, I did not see how lauching a new phone would help Blackberry to gain back it's market share.

However, when I learn more about this phone, I starts to see a bit of light and purpose of this phone and Blackberry's existence. Instead of trying to be a hippie and extend their market to a younger age market by introducing touch screen and social media inprovements, Blackberry Passport go back to what they do best, which is focus on productivity-driven business professionals.

Inspired by the actual passport, Blackberry passport's large square touch screen has 1:1 Aspect Ratio with QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard, optimized for viewing an creating content. The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 does elevate the touch and feel of the phone's physcical appearance. THey also claimed that BLackberry Passport's new QWERTY keyboard is almost4 times more accurate than Blackberry 10 virtual keyboard with average 74% lower error rate.

What impressed me the most is the OS (Blackberry 10.3). Since OS 10, the OS allows you to have multiple login account to navigate your personal and business needs, a great way for work life balance achieve in a single device. Also, I am please that Blackberry has listen to the user about the limitation of Blackberry World. Other than improving their market, balancing between choice and quality, Blackberry now supports Android apps, downloadable from Amazon Appstore or any .apk file that has originally cater for Android.

Another highlight from Blackberry is their Blackberry Blend (www.BlackBerry.com/Blend). Working across various OS such as Mac OS X 10.7 +, Window 7 + and ANdroid tabled 4.4 +, Blend connect your phone to your larger screen device through cellular network, USB or Wi-Fi, enables you to get instant message notifications, read and respond to your work and personal email, BBM or test messages, and access your documents, calendar, contacts and media in real time. 

The Blackberry Passport will be available through Blackberry's authorized carrier, Celcom from 10th Oct 2014 and though other partners ranging the product from 1st Nov 2014.


Blackberry Passport Product Specification as below:

Size (L x W x D)	128mm x 90.3mm x 9.3mm
Weight	196g
Display	453 PPI, 4.5", In-cell IPS LCD Touch Display, 1440 x 1440 resolution
Keyboard	3 row Touch-enabled QWERTY (recognizes touch gestures)
Memory	3 GB RAM, 32 GB Flash, Hot Swappable microSD slot supports up to 128 GB
Processor	2.2 GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
Cameras	13MP rear facing camera, Auto Focus, LED Flash, Images & Video Stabilization, 5x digital zoom, 1080p HD video recording up to 60fps. 2MP (720p) front facing camera, Image & Video Stabilization, 3x digital zoom 720p HD video recording
GPS	Assisted , Autonomous , and Simultaneous GPS
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy
NFC	NFC-enabled to support mobile payments and file exchange
Ports	Multi-function Port (support USB and microHDMI out)
Advanced Sensors	Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Time of FLight (ToF), Gyroscope, Ambient Light, Proximity
Wi-Fi	2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n, 5Ghz a/n + ac, Mobile Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast, DLNA Server
Network Connectivity	FD-LTE, support for global roaming
Battery*	3450 mAh (integrated); up to 30 hours of mixed use *Many factors affect battery life, including network connectivity, application usage, feature configuration and battery age. Actual results may vary.
Talk Time	GSM up to 18 hours; UMTS up to 23 hours
Standby Time	GSM up to 18 days; UMTS up to 18.5 days
Audio Playback	up to 84 hours
Video Playback	up to 12 hours