The good folks over at BlackBerry Central have let it slip that an updated BlackBerry Passport, codenamed Oslo, is being readied for worldwide release on the 30th of June,2015.
The only image they’ve offered is this blurry one that shows a Passport-esque phone with a somewhat tweaked design, another square display and a physical keyboard:
That keyboard has me a bit worried as it only has three lines of keys, leaving me wondering where the shift and character keys are hidden, but presumably BlackBerry has a plan, or at least will reveal a different keyboard closer to the phone’s actual release date.
The specs of the phone look similar to those of the original Passport, but BlackBerry central’s sources told them those are subject to change. As of the leak, they are:
- 1 440×1 440 LCD Screen
- 13MP Rear Camera, 2MP Front
- OS 10.3.2
- 3 450mAh Battery
Dave reviewed the Passport last year, and while he liked some of what he saw, he concluded that “The BlackBerry Passport will never appeal to everyone because it’s not meant to. It’s a businessman’s phone made with all of the features that would be advantageous to that kind of lifestyle.”
So it will be interesting to see if BlackBerry’s engineers have changed things significantly in this new phone to appeal to a wider demographic, or if they’re going to be content to target business people again.
Guess we’ll find out on June 30. BlackBerry could use a hit at this stage, as the company is still struggling in this brave new Android and iOS-driven smartphone world.
[Source & Image – BlackBerry Central]
