WASHINGTON, Jan 27 — Blackberry has announced the Passport Black & Gold, a limited edition consisting of just 50 devices.

In addition to a gold back cover and gold sides, this luxury edition of the Passport comes with a cover in Valextra leather. Each device is numbered. The limited edition is available at the manufacturer’s US website for US$899 (RM3,249).

Goldgenie, a third-party company that customises high-tech products with high-end materials, already offers the BlackBerry Passport in gold, rose gold or platinum versions, which are priced around US$1,000 each.

Previously available in white, black and red, the BlackBerry Passport has a 4.5-inch square HD touchscreen (1440x1440 pixels) that breaks with current industry trends. Powered by the BlackBerry 10.3 OS and a 2.2GHz quad-core processor, the 4G-ready smartphone has a 13MP camera with optical image stabilization and 1080p video recording, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The device is marketed primarily to business professionals and has a price tag of US$699.99 (unlocked). — AFP/Relaxnews