At the BlackBerry fiscal Q1 2015 earnings call CEO John Chen reveals a take on the phablet format, one that's possibly the struggling mobile vendor's oddest handset yet-- the BlackBerry Passport, a square QWERTY device.

As seen at the presentation the device is an angular, blocky number with a hardware keyboard crammed beneath a 4.5-inch 1440 x 1440 resolution display. Originally code-named "Windemere", little is known on its hardware specifications, but rumours suggest it carries a Snapdragon processor, Adreno 330 graphics, 3GB RAM and a 3450mAh battery.

Reports also suggest one can trace gestures on the rather cramped-looking keyboard.

Samsung launches what it says are its thinnest tablets yet-- the Galaxy Tab S tablet duo featuring  10.5- and 8.4-inch 2560x1600 Super AMOLED displays within a 6.6mm profile.

Both tablets carry the same specs, with the Exynos 5 Octa chipset (packs a 1.9GHz quad-core chip, 1.3GHz quad-core chip and 3GB RAM) plus either 16 or 32GB of internal storage, expandable to up to 128GB via microSD slot, and connectivity via either wifi or LTE. Android 4.4 handles OS duties.

The 10.5-inch model weights 465g while the 8.4-inch is 294g heavy.

Also included in the two tablets is built-in security via fingerprint scanner and the usual selection of Samsung apps such as the "Papergarden" magazine service and a Samsung-reskinned version of the Kindle app.

Asus launches an overall mobile device portfolio refresh at Computex 2014-- one complete with two Transformer Book products (the V and T300 Chi), the Zenbook NX500 laptop and new Fonepad and MeMO Pad devices.

The Transformer Book V is something of a first, being (as the company puts it)  a "5-mode, 3-in-one converged laptop that features a Windows and Android laptop and tablet as well as an Android smartphone." A sequel to the Transformer Book Duet, the Book V is a 12.5-inch device and runs either Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4, switching between operating systems at the touch of a button.

One can either use the Book V as a conventional laptop or detach the screen for tablet use. Also included is a separate 5-inch Android smartphone docking into the tablet.

Toshiba announces a pair of low-cost Windows 8.1 tablets, as well as a lower-cost Android device-- the Windows-powered 8- and 10-inch Encore 2 and the 7-inch Encore Go Android tablet.

Barring size and operating system the 3 tablets pretty much identical, with quad-core Intel Atom processors, 1280 x 800 displays, stereo speakers and 802.11n wifi connectivity. Both Encore 2 tablets also carry 1GB RAM and 32GB storage, while the Go features 1GB RAM and 8GB storage (expandable via microSD card).