BlackBerry Launches Square 'Passport' Phone

Struggling BlackBerry has pinned its hopes on a new smartphone with a large square screen.

The Canadian firm unveiled its new Passport device in Toronto, and its unconventional design features a touch-sensitive tactile keyboard alongside a 4.5-inch square HD screen.

The screen width fits 60 characters rather than the 40 seen on a rectangular five-inch device, making it ideal for reading ebooks and viewing documents.

The company has pitched the device at business people.

Chief executive John Chen said: "As we set out to design BlackBerry Passport, we were guided by a simple yet challenging idea - to set aside the limitations of traditional design and to instead simply build a device that fundamentally changes the way business professionals get work done on their smartphone.

"The BlackBerry Passport was created to drive productivity and to break through the sea of rectangular-screen, all-touch devices."

It is a key moment for the company, which was once the leading smartphone maker with its business-approved handsets.

But earlier this year, BlackBerry announced a quarterly loss of $423m (£254m) after suffering a revenue drop of more than 60%.

The device will be priced at £529 in the UK and $599 in the US.

The phone is now on sale in the UK and will be available in more than 30 countries by the end of the year.