Blackberry offers to PAY iPhone users to swap to its Passport handset
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It is billed as a tradeup - although many appear to disagree.
BlackBerry is offering to pay iPhone users up to $600 if they swap to its handsets.
The firm hopes to boost sales of its bizarre square Passport phone with its new promotion in what many see as a last ditch attempt for survival.
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The firm hopes the offer will boost poor sales of its unique square handset design.
'Upgrade to a BlackBerry Passport and get up to $400 back for your iPhone and an additional $200 from BlackBerry,' the firm says.
The trade-up value is based on the trade-in value of your used iPhone and the top-up value paid by BlackBerry, it said - and stressed that iPhones must be working models.
In an FAQ posted on its site, the firm admits it will then sell the iPhones.
'Once your iPhone is received by Clover Wireless, it will be tested and inspected,' it states.
'The devices that are reusable may be resold to retailers, wholesalers or consumers.'
After being unveiled at an event in June, chief executive John Chen has been teasing the square phone's features ever since - but it is believed sales have been poor.
The 4.5-inch device is now available in the UK, US, France, Germany, and Canada - and will run Android apps from the Amazon Appstore.
Prices in the various regions are £529 in the UK, $599 in the US, €649 in France and Germany, and $699 in Canada, when bought from ShopBlackBerry.com.
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The firm is offering a trade in price and a 'top up' for users.
'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,' said Mr Chen.
'The BlackBerry Passport was created to drive productivity and to break through the sea of rectangular-screen, all-touch devices.'
In addition to the large, 1440x1440 pixel square screen, the device has a 3450 mAH battery which BlackBerry claims will last up to 30 hours.
PASSPORT SPECIFICATIONS
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.
It has 1440x1440 pixel resolution display with a pixel density of 453PPI.
Other specifications include a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage plus expandable storage via microSD card up to 64GB.
There is also a 13MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera.
BlackBerry's 4.5-inch Passport phone (pictured) is now available in the UK, US, France, Germany, and Canada - and will run Android apps from the Amazon Appstore. Prices are £529 in the UK, $599 in the US, 649 in France and Germany, and $699 in Canada
The touchscreen is accompanied by a physical keyboard, and the Passport runs BlackBerry 10 OS 10.3.
This software features BlackBerry Blend, which lets users BlackBerry content to other devices including PCs and Android phones, as well as the Amazon Appstore.
This means that Android apps from the Amazon store can be installed on the BlackBerry device.
Prices in the various regions are £529 in the UK, $599 in the US, €649 in France and Germany, and $699 in Canada, when bought from ShopBlackBerry.com.
It has a quad-core 2.2 GHZ Processor, 3GB RAM as well as a 13MP rear camera, and 32GB memory.
The touchscreen is accompanied by a physical keyboard, and the Passport runs BlackBerry 10 OS 10.3.
This software features BlackBerry Blend, which lets users BlackBerry content to other devices including PCs and Android phones, as well as the Amazon Appstore.
This means that Android apps will run on the device, but only those available from the Amazon store, installed on the BlackBerry device.
The device wil be available in more than 30 countries around the world, including the Middle East, France, India, Singapore, Austria, Germany, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, Vietnam, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, Venezuela, Philippines, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Romania, and Colombia.
Earlier this week, Mr Chen told the Wall Street Journal that the price of the flagship device should be in the region of $799, but his firm dropped the price to 'get the market interested.'
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. There is also a 13MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera
Other specifications of the Passport (pictured) include a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage plus expandable storage via microSD card up to 64GB
By comparison, Apple's latest iPhone 6 handset starts at £539 ($649), while the iPhone 6 Plus costs £789 ($749) - both are also available on two-year contracts.
Samsung's Galaxy S5 costs around £580 ($650), and the South Korean firm is yet to release price details for its Galaxy Note Edge.
The BlackBerry Passport is the first time the firm has launched a new device, globally, since its BlackBerry 10 devices in 2013.
Rob Kerr, mobiles expert at uSwitch.com, said: 'This latest handset launch shows that it's back to business for BlackBerry - and what a smart move that is.
'After a year away from the UK market, a return to Blighty with a keyboard-based smartphone is a move that plays to BlackBerry's strengths, and shows it has finally understood what people liked about its early phones.
'In a twist, Amazon's Android AppStore comes preloaded, showing either the versatility of the OS - or that the BlackBerry app store needs help.'
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