BlackBerry introduced its square-screened Passport smartphone Wednesday, which has so far been met with mixed reviews.
The new device was unveiled at events in London, Toronto and Dubai, where the Canadian telecommunications company showed off its large touchscreen and keyboard traditionally found in the company's products, according to Reuters.
BlackBerry said the phone will be extremely useful to professionals looking for secure ways to access and edit documents like spreadsheets and medical scans.
The Passport's 4.5-inch display comes with a resolution of 1,440 x 1,440 pixels, which BlackBerry said while provide better views of images and videos than fans can find in previous devices, BGR reported. Another feature mentioned in the device is its ability to show 60 characters on each line.
The company added that the phone's keyboard will reduce typos by 74 percent and that it has four times the accuracy of virtual keyboards.
"No other device manufacturer could build a keyboard like this one," BlackBerry said.
Passport owners can use the BlackBerry Bend system to respond to messages and look at information sent from tablets and computers, Reuters reported.
Despite its features, the Passport has received criticism from several tech websites, such as CNET, which gave the phone 3.5 out of five stars. The website gave the phone credit for its keyboard, but said it is awkward to hold because of its shape. The Verge said the Passport represents more of what BlackBerry has done in the past 15 years than what is important in smartphones now. Enderle Group Analyst Rob Enderle said the company should have combined the keyboard and large screen sooner.
"Their loyal customer base is very keyboard-driven, and you want to be able to provide them without something that allows them to step into the future," Enderle said.
The Passport is the first major BlackBerry device to be introduced under CEO John S. Chen, who is supportive of the company's handset business as long as it is successful, The New York Times reported.
"It could be extremely important to me in the turnaround as part of the strategy, but it does not have to be it," Chen said. "As long as it does not lose money, this will not affect my turnaround plan in a negative way."
Additional features in the new phone include a large 3450mAH battery that BlackBerry said will last for 30 hours on regular use, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM, BGR reported.
BlackBerry fans can buy the contract-free version of the Passport now for $599.
