Proving previous rumours, BlackBerry unveiled its upcoming uniquely-shaped smartphone Passport this Monday with a square design as opposed to the conventional rectangular models currently dominating the field.
The company, with an objective to connect with business users, has chosen the square model as it can offer better viewing of documents.
In a blog post published on Monday, the company has explained how rectangular designs, though ergonomic and apt for media consumption has become a “de facto approach to smartphone design” and how it limits innovations.
BlackBerry also describes how the 5-inch experience on the square phone could give a better experience because of the screen width. While the rectangular models show up to 40 characters per line, BlackBerry’s Passport will show up to 60 characters.
The company also mentioned few of the practical application areas where the square design could be of help, for instance architects could view whole designs and schematics, traders could use web-based platforms to view business information, healthcare workers can see patient reports and X-rays, etc.
BlackBerry has been severely suffering from decline in sales for many years and now holds a minor percent of market share. The Canadian smartphone maker is trying to restore its lost glory by making a change in the design to drum up attention of professionals and convincing them that the square design could offer a lot more comfort than the rectangular phones currently in use.
The device comes with a physical keyboard and hence offers more screen space while also giving users a bit of traditional keyboard experience.
