14 DAY TRIAL // With less than two weeks left until the BlackBerry Passport’s official announcement, the Canadian company is ramping up its marketing campaign.
Even though the smartphone hasn’t been released on the market, BlackBerry wants potential customers to know most of the good points the Passport scores.
A number of BlackBerry Passport prototypes are already in the hands of some developers and testers who are either creating new apps for the smartphone or testing its features for any flaws.
We had lots of positive reactions from those who have been handed BlackBerry Passport units, but recently, things seem to have gotten a bit on the negative side, as at least one developer claims the smartphone’s design is too eccentric to become popular among BlackBerry fans.
However, we all know that it would have been impossible for everyone to like the upcoming BlackBerry Passport, so each with his/her opinion. For those who are still considering purchasing the smartphone when it goes on sale later this fall, BlackBerry released a few screenshots that show parts of the menu and the Amazon Appstore.
BlackBerry inked a deal with Amazon several weeks ago, in order to bring Android apps to compatible BlackBerry smartphones. This means that BlackBerry owners will be able to download and install Android applications and games through Amazon Appstore.
BlackBerry Passport comes with Amazon Appstore pre-installed
The new feature will only be available on devices powered by BlackBerry OS 10.3, so if you’re on an older version, you won’t be able to use Amazon Appstore.
The good news is that BlackBerry Passport comes with BlackBerry OS 10.3 operating system out of the box, which means it will have Amazon Appstore pre-installed as well.
In order to explain how easy and smooth the installation process of the apps via Amazon Appstore is, BlackBerry turned to tech writer Matt Young.
According to him, “With BlackBerry 10.3, accessing a wealth of apps is as easy as pushing a button (okay, you’re actually tapping an icon, but you get the meaning).
“I was really impressed by the way the Passport runs Android apps. There’s a huge increase in the fluidity of everything with the jump from OS 10.2 to OS 10.3, and the Passport’s powerful processor makes a difference, too. I could have sworn they were native apps.”
The problem is that BlackBerry users won’t be able to search for a certain app in Amazon Appstore and BlackBerry World at the same time. They will have to check for it in one or the other of the two application stores.
This means that Amazon Appstore will probably become the default place to search for apps and games, as BlackBerry World has a lot less apps and games.
Make sure you check out the screenshots in the gallery and see our BlackBerry Passport technical specifications page for more in-depth details on the smartphone.
