Summary: Samsung is aiming to beat its
rivals in the Windows 8 arena and make inroads in the enterprise by
offering a range of products, including the ATIV Tab, ATIV Smart PC and
ATIV Smart PC Pro.
Samsung is going all in with Windows 8: it's delivering an ARM-based tablet that uses the RT build of Microsoft's newly launched operating system, as well as two x86-based tablets that run the full OS.
With the ATIV range,
the hardware maker is trying to maximise its appeal to enterprise and
business buyers by covering all the bases. Traditionally, the company
has focused on consumer markets.
"The difference for us at Samsung [to rival manufacturers] is that we
have historically built the business up as a predominantly consumer
electronics brand, where we're at now is that we are very serious about
how we work with the B2B channel and B2B end users," said Graham Long,
head of IT at Samsung UK and Ireland.
"The last couple of years has been a journey whereby we've needed to
establish the systems, processes and right people," he added.
The RT tablet shown here, the ATIV Tab, has a 10.1-inch, 1,366-by-768
pixel display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a forward-facing
1.9-megapixel camera for video calling.
On the rear of the Samsung ATIV Tab, there's a 5-megapixel
camera with LED flash, capable of capturing full HD stills or 720p video
footage.
It also has a micro-HDMI out port, Bluetooth 4.0 and some
Samsung features such as a ChatOn mobile, a cross-platform IM service,
Samsung Hub, and a Samsung Picks section in the Windows 8 app store.
On the edge of the ATIV Tab's chassis is a microSD expansion
slot that will support cards up to 64GB, and the tablet comes with 32GB
or 64GB of internal storage as standard.
It has a full-size USB port, and buyers can choose to add 3G or 4G LTE connectivity.
The tablet measures just 8.9mm thick, making it slightly slimmer than Apple's recently announced fourth-generation iPad.
Samsung has not said how much the tablet will cost nor when it will launch in the UK.
The ATIV Tab runs the RT version of Windows, which means it
can't use existing x86 apps developed for Windows 7 or Windows 8. By
contrast, the ATIV Smart PC (shown) uses the full-fat version of
Microsoft's new OS, which can run either 'Windows 8 style apps'
(formerly called Metro) or traditional desktop apps.
Launched first at IFA at the end of October, the ATIV Smart PC is a
tablet with an 11.6-inch, 1,366-by-768-pixel display that can dock into a
keyboard for a more laptop-like experience.
The ATIV Smart PC is powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 (1.8GHz) Clover Trail processor and an Intel SGX545 graphics processor. Other
key hardware specs are the 2GB of RAM, a 2-megapixel front-facing
camera for video calling, and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera for
stills and video capture.
Alone, the tablet weighs around 750g and measures just 9.9mm
thick. When docked into the keyboard, it weighs 1.48kg and measures just
under 20mm thick when closed.
It comes with the S Pen stylus found with the Galaxy Note II
and other Samsung products, as well as with associated features like S
Note - both likely to appeal to enterprise users. It has Samsung's
Allshare and Family Share functionality for viewing files across all
networked devices, too.
The UK pricing and availability for the ATIV Smart PC have not yet been announced.
The ATIV Smart PC Pro is similar to the Smart PC but uses an
Intel Core i5 processor (or Core i3 processor) rather than the low-power
Atom processor from the same chipmaker.
The Pro has the same size screen as the Smart PC (11.6-inches) but
provides a higher-resolution display at 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. Like its
stablemate, it has one forward-facing 2-megapixel camera and one
5-megapixel snapper on the rear.
Other key specs of the ATIV Smart PC Pro are 4GB RAM as standard,
optional 3G or 4G connectivity and a promised battery life of around
eight hours.
The Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro comes with a keyboard dock for heavier data-entry tasks.
Alone, the tablet weighs 884g and measures just 11.89mm deep. When
docked in its keyboard, the device weighs 1.6kg and is 21.89mm thick
when closed like a laptop.
Pricing and availability for the Samsung Smart PC Pro is yet to arrive.
