InformationWeek's Geekend: BlackBerry Bets on Being Square

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the start of September, the world has been overwhelmed by smartphones, with new offerings from the likes of Apple and, most recently, BlackBerry, which just released a new square device called the Passport.

With all these smartphones, InformationWeek Geekend author David Wagner has been thinking about shapes, specifically how far phone makers can go to make their devices unique.

In the case of the BlackBerry Passport, Wagner imagines company engineers giving up on the fun aspects of design and solely focusing on boring business tasks. In this week's Geekend, Wagner observes, "But what strikes me instantly is that Blackberry has simply given up on the idea that their phones would ever be used for fun. If they thought you'd ever do something like watch a movie or even a YouTube video on it, they'd never give you a square screen. Not putting the screen in the HD standard aspect ratio of 16:9 is absolutely analog. Actually it is worse than analog because that's at least 4:3."

After the BlackBerry Passport, Wagner turns his attention to the new iPhone 6, which appears to have the ability to bend into a boomerang. Does this mean the next-generation of smartphones will come in trapezoid? How about round? What about a triangle, and where would the buttons go?

Each week, Wagner takes an often humorous look at a variety of science and technology news to see how we're changing our world, and how the world we built is changing us. In this week's installment, he's bending smartphones to their limits. Check it out here.

About InformationWeek

InformationWeek is the leading news and analysis media brand for business technology decision-makers, serving CIOs and other IT leaders in a range of industries through its award-winning community website, digital magazines, and live events. For more information, go to http://www.informationweek.com/.

About UBM Tech

UBM Tech is a global media business that brings together the world's technology communities through live events, online properties, and custom services. UBM Tech's community-focused approach provides its users and clients with expertly curated research, education, training, community advocacy, user-generated content, and peer-to-peer engagement opportunities that serve the Electronics, Security, Enterprise IT and Communications, Network Infrastructure and Applications, Game and App Developers, and Tech Marketing communities. UBM Tech's brands include Black Hat, DesignCon, EE Times, Enterprise Connect, Game Developers Conference (GDC), HDI, InformationWeek, and Interop. Create, a UBM Tech full-range marketing services division, includes custom events, content marketing solutions, community development, and demand generation programs based on its content and technology market expertise. UBM Tech is a part of UBM LLC, a global provider of media and information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. For more information, go to http://tech.ubm.com/. 

Contact:
Scott Ferguson
Community Editorial Director, UBM Tech
212-600-3208
Scott.Ferguson@UBM.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140926/148628

SOURCE InformationWeek