Tablets and ultrabooks are not the only devices Samsung is unveiling at IFA 2012. The company also showed off its first Windows Phone 8 smartphone, the ATIV S.
Featuring a brushed aluminum chassis, the ATIV S is 8.7mm thin and weights 135 grams (just under 0.3 pounds). It is approximately 5.4” tall and 2.8” wide at 137.2mm x 70.5mm. The front of the smartphone features a large 4.8” HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 2. Below the display is a slightly raised physical Windows button along with capacitive back and search buttons on either side. Above the display is a 1.9MP webcam and aluminum speaker grill. On the rear of the ATIV S is an 8MP autofocus camera, rear aluminum speaker bar, and a compartment that holds a 2300 mAh battery.
Inside the smartphone running Windows Phone 8 is a 1.5 GHz dual core ARM SoC, 1GB of RAM, and 16 or 32 GB of storage. The ATIV S also includes a microSD card slot. According to the Windows Team Blog, the ATIV S is noticeably thinner than Samsung’s other Windows Phone (7) smartphones. On the other hand, the phone is wider and taller, so it is less pocket-able. Thanks to the slightly curved edges of the phone, it is easy to hold and use with one hand despite the larger form factor (I’m sure Josh is making a joke for the podcast as we speak).
Overall, it looks like Samsung has put a lot of work into its new ATIV S Windows Phone 8 smartphone. While I’ve been intrigued with the Windows Phone mobile OS for a while now, I have not found a phone running it that I like; Nokia is great and all but the Nokia 920’s design just isn’t my thing. Personally, I think the ATIV S might be the perfect replacement for my Samsung Infuse 4G. You can see more photos of the ATIV S over at the Windows Team Blog.
Read more about Windows Phone 8 at PC Perspective.
I had high hopes for W8, but
I had high hopes for W8, but I installed it on my PC in a VM. That’s when I realized what it was, it’s all about social. I just permanently deleted my Facebook account, so it’s not for me. My wife will love it, but I use my phone for business and my pc for watching podcasts and reading, I have no interest in social.
Mark, How does that relate to
Mark, How does that relate to the phones?
I think what he’s saying –
I think what he’s saying – and I share that view – is that this is a Windows 8 phone and the PC OS and phone OS are pretty much the same. Its not just a UI issue, but also one of Ux. Ms, like Apple, is moving in that direction, so there will be one OS for phones, tablets and PCs (on the surface).
He mentioned deleting his Facebook account (more like ‘closing’ since nothing is ever deleted) and stated that he’s not into social networking. And since Win 8 is geared toward that (for e.g., you will need a .Live account to take full advantage of the OS whether its on the phone or PC/tablet) his position is that the phone wont be for him.
It looks like a hell of a phone although they’re pushing it on size. If the boot loader is unlocked (not counting on it, knowing Samsung) then it may really shine w/ another OS like Gecko, Open webOS, or Meego.