BlackBerry's new square Passport smartphone

BlackBerry has detailed a strange new square smartphone called the Passport. Here's what you need to know about the BlackBerry Passport release date, price and specs in the UK.See alsoThe best smartphones: The best phones you can buy in 2014.
It wasn't too long ago when it was pretty cool to have a BlackBerry but the Canadian firm has been dominated by the iPhone and Android smartphones recently. Despite its demise, BlackBerry has shown off a new device called the Passport. Is it now so square that it's cool?
BlackBerry said "Many have thought that creativity around the design of smartphones was dead," adding that "the rectangle has become a de facto approach to smartphone design, perhaps limiting innovations."
BlackBerry Passport: Release date UK
Following the London launch of the BlackBerry Passport, the smartphone is available to buy straight away fromShopBlackBerry. It will also be available as the usual retailers such as Amazon and additionally Selfridges (the Carphone Warehouse store-in-store).
The price for this new smartphone in the UK is £529 which is £10 cheaper than the iPhone 6. However, Clove has it for £499 if you can wait until 29 September.
BlackBerry Passport: Specs
The BlackBerry Passport has a 4.5in (1440 x 1440) screen which is square – an aspect ratio of 1:1. The firm says the passport was the inspiration for the size and form factor for this new smartphone although the last time a look at my passport it wasn't square. See also: Android L vs iOS 8.
BlackBerry says it offers a similar amount of viewing space compared to a 5in phone but a better experience because of its width. Most smartphones can display 40 characters across the screen but the Passport outpaces them at 60. It's ideal for reading e-books, viewing documents and browsing the web, according to BlackBerry.


Apple iPhone 6 Configuration Info


GENERAL
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - A1549 (GSM), A1549 (CDMA), A1586

CDMA 800 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - A1549 (CDMA), A1586
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - A1549 (GSM), A1549 (CDMA), A1586

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - A1549 (CDMA), A1586

TD-SCDMA 1900 / 2000 - A1586
LTE 700/800/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600
(1/2/3/4/5/7/8/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29) - A1549 (GSM), A1549 (CDMA)

LTE 700/800/850/900/1800/1900/2100/2600
TD-LTE 1900/2300/2500/2600
(1/2/3/4/5/7/8/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/38/39/40/41) - A1586
Nano-SIM
2014, September
Available. Released 2014, September

BODY
138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm (5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 in)
129 g (4.55 oz)

- Fingerprint sensor (Touch ID)
- Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified)

DISPLAY
LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
750 x 1334 pixels, 4.7 inches (~326 ppi pixel density)
Yes
Shatter proof glass, oleophobic coating

- Display Zoom

SOUND
Vibration, proprietary ringtones
Yes
Yes

MEMORY
No
16/64/128 GB, 1 GB RAM

DATA
Yes
Yes
DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; EV-DO Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 150 Mbps DL, 50 Mbps UL
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
v4.0, A2DP, LE
Yes (Apple Pay only)
v2.0

CAMERA
8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, check quality
1/3'' sensor size, 1.5µm pixel size, geo-tagging, simultaneous HD video and image recording, touch focus, face/smile detection, HDR (photo/panorama)
1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, check quality
1.2 MP, 720p@30fps, face detection, FaceTime over Wi-Fi or Cellular

FEATURES
iOS 8, upgradable to iOS 8.0.2
Apple A8
Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based)
PowerVR GX6450 (quad-core graphics)
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
HTML5 (Safari)
No
Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS
No
Space Gray, Silver, Gold

- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- AirDrop file sharing
- Siri natural language commands and dictation
- iCloud cloud service
- iCloud Keychain
- Twitter and Facebook integration
- TV-out
- Maps
- iBooks PDF reader
- Audio/video player/editor
- Organizer
- Document viewer/editor
- Photo viewer/editor
- Voice memo/dial/command
- Predictive text input

BATTERY

Non-removable Li-Po 1810 mAh battery (6.9 Wh)
(2G) / Up to 250 h (3G)
(2G) / Up to 14 h (3G)
Up to 50 h

MISC
http://cdn2.gsmarena.com/vv/price/pg9.gif


TESTS