One of the biggest news in the Berlin Radio Show (IFA, Berlin 2012) was the announcement of the first ever smartphone with Windows Phone 8 version, ‘Samsung ATIV S’. This is one of the releases made by Samsung on the 29th of August. The ATIV S is part of a family of products, under the ATIV brand (containing ATIV Tab and ATIV Smart PC). In this article, let’s check this phone out.
Announcement at IFA:
Phone Specifications
| Feature | Value |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows Phone 8 |
| Display | 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED 720 x 1280 pixels; 306 ppi |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz; dual-core Krait processor |
| Memory | 16/32 GB internal storage; 1GB RAM; MicroSD support up to 64 GB |
| Battery | Li-ion 2300 mAh |
| Dimensions | 137.2 x 70.5 x 8.7 mm ; 135 g |
| Camera | Rear – 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash; front – 1.9MP |
| Connectivity Features | Bluetooth 3.0; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n; NFC |
Looking at the ATIV S, the first thing you notice is perhaps how similar it looks to other devices from Samsung. Generally, all of them look alike and somewhat similar to the Apple devices—a reason why they fought in a court of law. It may seem like Samsung’s design team is clueless.
It’s rare for anyone to look at a new smartphone and notice the design of the operating system rather than the design of the device. Looking at ATIV S, you are probably going to notice how different Windows Phone 8 looks from version 7. This phone doesn’t look any different from any other phone from Samsung.However, the quality of hardware is much better with this one. Similar to the iPhone and unlike any other phone from Samsung so far, this one sports a metallic edge. Also, with a stunningly brilliant AMOLED display, the phone is very thin at 8.7 mm. The rounded edge is in no way dissimilar to Galaxy Note or Galaxy S2.
One of the most important things about ATIV S is its support for the connectivity features out there. LTE (Long Term Evolution) is supported for speeds up to 42 mbps. This makes the phone very special as even several of the carriers out there haven’t started offering this kind of speed. This device will be a great choice for good 4G speeds.
As expected, Windows Phone 8 gives you complete support for all kinds of Microsoft applications. SkyDrive app is preinstalled, and it gives you a free platform for cloud storage.
Conclusion
More information is not available about this product as it was released only two days ago. However, in the coming days, we will see the benefits and effects of this device, and how it will compete with popular Lumia Windows smartphones from Nokia to be released soon.