BlackBerry said on Tuesday sales at its software segment rose in the first quarter and its broader revenue slide began to ease. The Canadian company, hammered by competition in the mobile world, is in the midst of transforming from a pure smartphone manufacturer into a company focused more on business software and services.

Quarterly revenue totaled $658 million in the quarter, slightly lower than the prior period, but software revenue more than doubled from a year ago to $137 million as the company pivots to that segment.

On the other hand, the provider of smartphones and business and security software posted a fiscal first-quarter loss, excluding one-time items, of $28 million, or 5 cents a share, on revenue of $658 million.

BlackBerry said it "recognized hardware revenue" on roughly 1.1 million smartphones with an average selling price of $240. BlackBerry CEO John Chen hinted at a stronger marketing campaign for the products now that it has more retail and carrier partners in place .

The Passport was selling "steadily," while the Classic saw an uptick, Chen said, although he declined to provide specific numbers.

Separately, BlackBerry announced a patent cross-licensing agreement with Cisco that covers their respective products and technologies. BlackBerry said that it will receive a license fee from Cisco, but terms of the deal were not disclosed.