BlackBerry

BlackBerry has unveiled a new square-shaped smartphone.

The Passport, which costs £529, has a 4.5 in square touchscreen and a "touch-enabled keyboard".

BlackBerry claims the device will make tasks such as reading and writing emails, browsing the web and navigating maps, easier while the physical "qwerty" keyboard doubles as a touch-sensitive swipe pad.

Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry has abandoned plans to sell the business and ditched chief executive Thorsten Heins after nearly two years at the helm.

Shares plunged as the company announced that instead of finding new buyers, largest shareholder Fairfax and other investors would inject a billion US dollars (£627 million) into the firm.

John Chen, former boss of technology firm Sybase, was named interim chief executive to replace Mr Heins and immediately admitted that the once pioneering business faced tough challenges.

He said: "BlackBerry is an iconic brand with enormous potential - but it's going to take time, discipline and tough decisions to reclaim our success."

The firm recently revealed second quarter losses of 965 million US dollars (£605 million).

BlackBerry founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin are considering taking over the struggling smartphone company as it searches for a buyer.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Lazaridis said that he and Mr Fregin are looking to potentially acquire the 92%of the shares they do not currently own, either by themselves or with other interested parties.

The filing said the pair own 8% of BlackBerry.

BlackBerry said it has signed a letter of intent with a group led by Fairfax Financial Holdings, the smartphone maker's largest shareholder, to be taken over.

The deal is worth $9 a share to BlackBerry shareholders, valuing the company at around $4.7 billion (£2.9 billion).

The struggling firm said in a short statement that the consortium has six weeks to "conduct due diligence," during which BlackBerry can shop for other offers.

BlackBerry shares climbed 3.2% to $9.00 shortly after trading restarted.

Read: BlackBerry agrees to $4.7 billion takeover deal

Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry said it has agreed to sell to a consortium led by its largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings, for $4.7 billion (£2.9 billion).

Canada's Minister for Employment Jason Kenney has said he sympathises with employees of phone company BlackBerry, after it announced it would cut around 40% of its workforce. Canada is one of the countries that manufactures the phone.

Phone company BlackBerry could survive as a much smaller player, an analyst has told Reuters, after it announced that it would cut around 40% of its global workforce.

BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said: "This is the end of the BlackBerry as we know it.

"This is a major pivot. They are cutting half of their employees and they're going to focus on becoming a niche player focused on the enterprise."

He added: "The company has sailed off a cliff...What do you expect when you announce you're up for sale? Who wants to commit to a platform that could possibly be shut down?"

The Ontario-based company BlackBerry said it expects that its adjusted net loss, will be in a range of about $250 million to $265 million (£165.4m) or a loss of 47 cents to 51 cents per share.

BlackBerry said it expects to report revenue for the second quarter of about $1.6 billion, of which roughly 50 per cent is expected to be revenue from its services unit.

The company said it plans to refocus its efforts on the enterprise and high-end consumer markets, offering end-to-end solutions, including hardware, software and services.

Read: BlackBerry to cut 40% of staff

BlackBerry Ltd warned that it expects to report a huge second-quarter operating loss next week and that it plans to cut more than a third of its workforce.

The company, which has struggled to claw back market share from the likes of Apple's iPhone, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy phones, said it expects to report a net operating loss of about $950 million to $995 million (£621.1m) in the quarter ended August 31, due to writedowns and other factors.

• Read: BlackBerry to cut 40% of staff

Phone company BlackBerry has announced it is to lay off 4,500 employees, or 40 per cent of its global workforce.