Samsung has revealed the first Windows 8 powered smartphone at IFA. The new smartphone is called the Samsung ATIV S. Specs have also been revealed which show the device is just 8.7mm thin. It has a brushed aluminium chassis along with a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display. The glass on the front is provided by Corning and is the new Gorilla Glass 2 which is thinner but stronger than the previous generation of glass.
It runs a dual-core processor clocked at 1.5Ghz, has 1GB of RAM and comes in storage options of either 16 to 32GB. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera that has autofocus. On the front is a 1.9 megapixel camera allowing video calls to be made.
The Windowsteamblog highlights that although the phone has a large screen, Samsung has made it thin at 8.7mm meaning that it doesn’t feel like a large phone. As well as the thin form factor, Samsung also designed the bezel around the screen to bulge out slightly and taper off around the back of the device which apparently makes it easier to hold. We’ll need to test to see for ourselves.
If Windows 8 phone can deliver then it certainly looks like the hardware will be up to the task. Some other devices like the Galaxy Note II, also from Samsung, run a quad-core processor but devices can still run smoothly with slower chips or less cores etc.. so its a bit hard to judge on specs alone. One comment I did see on the blog linked above is related to the large screen of the Galaxy Note II… some would like a Windows 8 equivalent although I’m not sure at this point if Microsoft allow for that screen size flexibility yet.
The ATIV S will likely launch in October around the time that Windows 8 is rolled out.
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