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Among the rectangular handsets of Apple, Samsung and HTC, BlackBerry has traditionally struggled to stand out from the crowd.

So, in what could the last roll of the dice for the Canadian firm, it has unveiled more details about its first handset to have a square display.

The BlackBerry Passport has a full HD 4.5-inch square screen, which is said to offer a similar viewing space to a 5-inch phone, but 'an even better viewing experience' because of the screen's width.

The BlackBerry Passport (pictured centre) has a full HD 4.5-inch square screen and shows 60 characters of text, compared to 40 on a rectangular 5-inch device (Samsung's Galaxy S5 5.1-inch device is pictured right). Apple's iPhone 4S is pictured left to show scale

The device was first revealed in June by BlackBerry boss John Chen during the company's quarterly earnings report.

The project was previously known as Windermere, and Chen said at the time that Passport will be officially announced at an event in London in September.

Further details were unveiled by Matt Young on the Inside BlackBerry blog yesterday: 'Consider how IMAX movies begin with the screens set to a more traditional 16:9 aspect ratio projection for conventional movie trailers, before expanding to their true dimensions.

'The Passport is like the IMAX of productivity, and you don't have to sacrifice screen real estate, vertically or horizontally.'

Academic research has shown that the optimal number of characters on a line in a book is 66 characters.

Most rectangular smartphones show approximately 40 characters per line, while the BlackBerry Passport is said to show 60 characters.

This makes the Passport 'the ideal device for reading e-books, viewing documents and browsing the web.'

It also solves the problem of having to switch between landscape and portrait mode when taking a photo or filming a video.

'We've been living in a rectangular world for quite some time and know it's a great ergonomic design that drives content, media consumption and quick communications,' continued Young.

The Passport is expected to go on sale in September, and combines a large touchscreen with a physical keyboard. BlackBerry CEO John Chen first revealed the square phone (pictured) during the Canadian company's annual general meeting last month

The Passport (right) is set to go on sale in September alongside Blackberry's touchscreen phone the Z3 (left), and the Classic (centre). It is unclear how comfortable the phone would be to hold, when making a call for example, and BlackBerry has not released any details about price

'However, the rectangle has become a defacto approach to smartphone design, perhaps limiting innovations.

'Just as a passport is the universal symbol of mobility and was the inspiration for the size and form factor of this device, your BlackBerry Passport becomes your ticket to open new doors of opportunity.'

It is unclear how comfortable the phone would be to hold, when making a call for example, and BlackBerry has not released any details about the price.

The blog post does, however, position the device more towards businesses than consumers.

For example, it states architects and mortgage brokers could use it to look at full designs and schematics on the go. While medical staff could view X-rays and medical documents in the office with a patient

Young concluded: 'The BlackBerry Passport will take you to new places on the best business trip you've ever had. We want you to imagine the possibilities.'

Last month, BlackBerry announced it was offering 240,000 Android apps to its smartphone users in a surprise deal with Amazon. The deal lets BlackBerry add a selection of consumer apps to its devices, and to focus on developing enterprise and productivity applications. BlackBerry Bold 9900 is pictured

The move is the latest by the smartphone pioneer to streamline its focus as it attempts to reinvent itself under new chief executive John Chen.

BlackBerry phones have recently lost ground to Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy devices.

Chen wants to remain a competitor in the smartphone segment, but is focused on making BlackBerry a dominant force in machine-to-machine communications.

The company's QNX software already is a mainstay in the automobile industry, powering electronic and other systems in a wide range of cars.

BlackBerry already works with hundreds of large enterprise clients including corporations and government agencies to manage and secure mobile devices on their internal networks.

Chen intends to build on those ties and BlackBerry's touted security credentials to allow these enterprise clients to build and customize in-house corporate and productivity applications for their employees.