# Blackberry Passport



## mwgdrwg (Jun 20, 2014)

Ok, just putting it out there! BlackBerry's square smartphone with a touch sensitive hardware keyboard designed for enterprise. I don't even...


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## Manter (Jun 20, 2014)

its very ugly and looks very old fashioned


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## mwgdrwg (Jun 20, 2014)

They are also releasing a new all-touch phone, and a 'Classic' keyboard phone...


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## mwgdrwg (Jun 20, 2014)

The more I look at it, the more I think WTF!


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## Spymaster (Jun 20, 2014)

Way to go Blackberry. You've designed a phone that looks like it came from the 70s.


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## 5t3IIa (Jun 20, 2014)

Wow! That looks so cool  Lookatit! All square and retro


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## mwgdrwg (Jun 20, 2014)

Classic looks really nice, Z3 looks like all other phones.

So why the Passport? It just boggles the mind. I really want to play with one though, to see what it's like.


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## mwgdrwg (Jun 20, 2014)

Apparently designed for enterprise....so, erm, spreadsheets should look nice on it?


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## The Boy (Jun 20, 2014)

On a par with Alan Sugar's emailing telephone imo.


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## Manter (Jun 20, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> Apparently designed for enterprise....so, erm, spreadsheets should look nice on it?


Bless 'em, their entire business model is like an Alan partridge sketch. Even management consultants don't call it enterprise any more


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## joustmaster (Jun 20, 2014)

if i see someone using one in the street i will smack it out of their hands.


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## mwgdrwg (Jun 20, 2014)

joustmaster said:


> if i see someone using one in the street i will smack it out of their hands.



It'd hurt if they smacked you back with it...size of the thing!


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## joustmaster (Jun 20, 2014)

the more i look at the photo, the more I think that the old man holding it is laughing at it.


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## twentythreedom (Jun 20, 2014)

Made for the USS Enterprise


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## On Fire (Jun 22, 2014)

Wow, I am going to get flamed here. But, I think Blackberry will now survive - as a low volume handset seller - 10 million handsets a year to be profitable as said by the Blackberry boss John Chen. But most of their future profits will come from the services and enterprise software side. Basically, I now think Blackberry are through the worst, and I believe Chen is doing a fantastic job in extremely difficult circumstances.


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## maomao (Jun 22, 2014)

I like Blackberries, have used them for years, like having a keyboard because my fat fingers don't work on touchscreen keyboards and own a Q5. I am one of very few people in the world who would actually want a tablet with a keyboard attached like that. But that is just silly looking.


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## Blagsta (Jun 22, 2014)

The NHS trust I work for uses Blackberries. Something to do with secure email. Or cos they're cheap. Everyone hates them and they don't work properly.


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## Badgers (Jun 22, 2014)

I have a BlackBerry work mobile and it is awful.


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## mwgdrwg (Jun 22, 2014)

Badgers said:


> I have a BlackBerry work mobile and it is awful.



Is it an OS10 phone, or one of the old OS7 ones?


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## mwgdrwg (Jul 14, 2014)

It's so....square!


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## Callum91 (Jul 14, 2014)

Must say...quite like the look of it... bit late to the party though.


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## joustmaster (Jul 14, 2014)

Hahaha, just fucking look at it


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## ska invita (Jul 14, 2014)

as someone who doesnt have a smart phone this appeals to me - its got real buttons, as i cant use touch screen ones, and the buttons are bigger than on the old blackberry and my fingers are too big for that - its got a big screen which makes internet stuff a bit more feasible - only downside would be trying to make a phone call on it... Ive got a CD case here, which i reckon is about the same size and have just put it up to my ear to make a phonecall and id feel a bit stupid making a call on it. Shame, other than that its great i think if you genuinely need a mobile internet device


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## skyscraper101 (Jul 14, 2014)

I don't think it looks that bad either. It's not for me, but I can see it would appeal to Blackberry enthusiasts. I bet its a lot easier to type on than an iphone anyway, which STILL won't let you install 3rd party keyboards (though it looks like that'll be fixed with ios 8)


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## mwgdrwg (Jul 15, 2014)

Spreadsheets.


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## joustmaster (Jul 15, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> Spreadsheets.


a silly comparison.
you can zoom in and out as much as you want.

Ive just tested it on my nexus 4. which is smaller than the samsung, above. this size was useable:


and if i could be bothered to shrink the column width to something similar...


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## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2014)

i would buy a crackberry


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## ska invita (Jul 15, 2014)

think how good arkanoid is going to be on there...


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## maomao (Jul 15, 2014)

ska invita said:


> as someone who doesnt have a smart phone this appeals to me - its got real buttons, as i cant use touch screen ones, and the buttons are bigger than on the old blackberry and my fingers are too big for that



It's a touchscreen with a keyboard attached, you would still need to do stuff via the touchscreen. What are your fingers made of anyway?


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## ska invita (Jul 15, 2014)

maomao said:


> . What are your fingers made of anyway?


girders


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## TitanSound (Sep 25, 2014)

I like it.


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## mwgdrwg (Sep 25, 2014)

I want the white one.


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## editor (Sep 25, 2014)

It looks ludicrous.


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## TitanSound (Sep 25, 2014)

Decent sized physical keys and a 25 hour battery life. Function over fashion


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## editor (Sep 25, 2014)

TitanSound said:


> Decent sized physical keys and a 25 hour battery life. Function over fashion


You can find feature phones with that. 
I don't see its form factor being particularly functional. It just looks awkward.  





> I NEVER FELT COMFORTABLE WITH THE PASSPORT IN MY HANDS
> For all that BlackBerry has done to make the Passport a productivity tool, its design felt like it was fighting me more often than it was helping me. Between the awkward dimensions and odd keyboard layout, I never felt comfortable with the Passport in my hands and never felt comfortable getting work done on it. Being comfortable with your tools is essential for a Power Pro: it should get out of my way and just let me get done what I need to get done. Too often, the Passport didn't get out of my way.
> 
> http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/24/6837943/blackberry-passport-review


Good for them for trying something different though.


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## quiquaquo (Sep 26, 2014)

maomao said:


> I like Blackberries, have used them for years, like having a keyboard because my fat fingers don't work on touchscreen keyboards and own a Q5. I am one of very few people in the world who would actually want a tablet with a keyboard attached like that. But that is just silly looking.



Another Q5 user here, excellent phone for email and texting and nothing like the old Blackberry OS. Bargain at the price.


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## Hocus Eye. (Sep 26, 2014)

TitanSound said:


> Decent sized physical keys and a 25 hour battery life. Function over fashion


*But it comes with a £529 price tag as advertised by Selfridges. *


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## editor (Sep 26, 2014)

Hocus Eye. said:


> *But it comes with a £529 price tag as advertised by Selfridges. *


You could buy 4 Moto Gs for that!


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## mwgdrwg (Sep 26, 2014)

editor said:


> You could buy 4 Moto Gs for that!



It's solidly built and the specs are simlar or better than other flagship devices...so not really a fair comparison Ed.

I still wish it was £200 cheaper though, and I'm sure it will be when my contract expires in 6 months.


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## editor (Sep 27, 2014)

mwgdrwg said:


> It's solidly built and the specs are simlar or better than other flagship devices...so not really a fair comparison Ed.
> 
> I still wish it was £200 cheaper though, and I'm sure it will be when my contract expires in 6 months.


Given that they're trying to win back the millions who have fled their platform, I think pricing is a very important issue.


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## Callum91 (Sep 27, 2014)

My friend (female, 22 if it's important) is starting a new job in January and has been looking at various phablets. Shocked me last night by saying she's really interested in the Blackberry Passport (despite hating them previously). So perhaps there's life in the old dog yet? I mean...I'd have one. If no other phone existed...


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## farmerbarleymow (Sep 27, 2014)

Blagsta said:


> The NHS trust I work for uses Blackberries. Something to do with secure email. Or cos they're cheap. Everyone hates them and they don't work properly.





Badgers said:


> I have a BlackBerry work mobile and it is awful.


I suppose it depends on the models employers use, and how locked down they are. I've got a work blackberry (an older physical keyboard one) and my own (a Z30) and they are hugely different in performance.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Sep 27, 2014)

The screen looks like a good idea for the market they're aiming at. 16:9 screens are crap for reading documents etc.


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## quiquaquo (Sep 30, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> I suppose it depends on the models employers use, and how locked down they are. I've got a work blackberry (an older physical keyboard one) and my own (a Z30) and they are hugely different in performance.



Blackberry 10 is by far the best phone OS out there imho. Simple, fast, intuitive, secure and if one wishes access to Android apps too. Not to be confused to the old Blackberry 7 OS that ran the previous Curve and Bold models which is probably what most here are complaining about.


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## farmerbarleymow (Oct 3, 2014)

quiquaquo said:


> Blackberry 10 is by far the best phone OS out there imho. Simple, fast, intuitive, secure and if one wishes access to Android apps too. Not to be confused to the old Blackberry 7 OS that ran the previous Curve and Bold models which is probably what most here are complaining about.


Exactly - there's no comparison between the two OS really. The older ones are good enough for secure e-mail, but otherwise are fairly basic and of their time. Blackberry 10 is robust and works very well - and for communication it is hard to beat.


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 23, 2015)

Did anyone get one of these? I still fancy the white one.


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## mauvais (Jan 23, 2015)

I think that BBRY are fucked, but I don't understand why this design is so mocked.

Everyone's favourite, the iPhone was - at least until 6, which I haven't tried - _awful_ to hold. So it has rounded corners, but sharp edges down the sides, and amounts to being this uncomfortable metal block unlike pretty much everything else there's ever been.

On-screen keyboards are great, but also somehow fatiguing in my experience, so maybe a hardware one would be better - but then it might be more about the software and overall form factor.


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## Maurice Picarda (Jan 23, 2015)

Manter said:


> Even management consultants don't call it enterprise any more



What do you call it, then?


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## skyscraper101 (Jan 23, 2015)

Maurice Picarda said:


> What do you call it, then?



Blackberry: The Next Generation


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## Manter (Jan 23, 2015)

Maurice Picarda said:


> What do you call it, then?


I'm not one any more . I escaped and am looking for a proper job/unemployed.....

Business and function seem to be back in fashion. Academics and public sector still use enterprise wide a lot, but the latest trend seems to be focusing on the organisation. So you'd say company-wide, firm-wide, cross functional, 'whole Bank' etc depending on what you are looking at. I think it's because the situation (esp regulation) is so different in different sectors at the moment. Speciality is the order of the day.


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## mauvais (Jan 23, 2015)

Manter said:


> Business and function seem to be back in fashion. Academics and public sector still use enterprise wide a lot, but the latest trend seems to be focusing on the organisation. So you'd say company-wide, firm-wide, cross functional, 'whole Bank' etc depending on what you are looking at. I think it's because the situation (esp regulation) is so different in different sectors at the moment. Speciality is the order of the day.


Sorry, but you're quite wrong about this. None of the terms you mention mean anything in this context (do they mean anything at all?), which is to differentiate between consumer and, err, enterprise-centric stuff.

For instance, GMail is consumer, so what is Exchange Server?

The iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S5 is largely consumer, so what are most Blackberry products?


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## Maurice Picarda (Jan 23, 2015)

I also use the term to distinguish between business customers in commercial and public service spaces.


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 23, 2015)

I'll take that as a no then.


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## Manter (Jan 23, 2015)

mauvais said:


> Sorry, but you're quite wrong about this. None of the terms you mention mean anything in this context (do they mean anything at all?), which is to differentiate between consumer and, err, enterprise-centric stuff.
> 
> For instance, GMail is consumer, so what is Exchange Server?


I'm just reporting what I see in business at the moment. No haven't seen a publicity release for about 18 months talking about enterprise wide it infrastructure, or enterprise wide risk management. Instead they are all about cloud based data solutions to address <<insert issues, usually regulatory, here>>. Place I am working at the moment used to have an enterprise wide risk committee- now it has a remco that is part of the new regulation so all the 'enterprise wide' stuff has been ditched in favour of committees that address particular issues.


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 23, 2015)




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## Maurice Picarda (Jan 23, 2015)

It's certainly true that technology vendors (especially challengers) are more interested in LOBs and shadow IT, and less interested in CIOs than they were, but it doesn't mean that enterprise isn't the right name for the thing.


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## mauvais (Jan 23, 2015)

As for the original point of what does it mean if geared towards enterprise, well no, it's not just spreadsheets.

It's stuff like remote management so you can push out policies for security etc, it's stuff like being able to remotely wipe the device when someone leaves it on a train, it's stuff like knowing that all your devices will be able to work nicely with your email server and not need a million and one different hacks. And stuff like knowing exactly what security has been used, rather than hoping everyone is on the latest version and that it's free of holes itself. Like Android isn't, for example.

These days you do have a little bit of that capability with Android and even iPhone, hence BYOD (bring your own device) becoming popular, but if you want something closer to a guarantee, Blackberry is your best bet. Noone else has invested that much into the organisational security angle. Samsung might be able to now, but haven't done so to date.


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## 19sixtysix (Jan 23, 2015)

Being square it could display this picture nicely.


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## Maurice Picarda (Jan 23, 2015)

I have been issued with a Q10. I don't really like all the swiping and screen pressing. I wish I had a Classic, and I miss my Bold. Phones should have proper tangible buttons for all possible functions.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 27, 2015)

Blackberry? Hahaha!


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