Samsung has officially announced the first Windows 8 Phone ATIV S. It is essentially a Windows Phone 8 version of Samsung's Android powered Galaxy S III. The ATIV S packs a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with a 720 x 1280 HD resolution and has Gorilla Glass 2 for protection. Inside is a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. While not a quad-core, this dual core chipset packs the advance Qualcomm Krait processor which allows it to match and even outrun its quad-core competitors. This is backed up by 1 GB of RAM. At the back, there’s an 8MP primary camera with 1.9MP secondary camera at the front. This a a big phone at 137.2 mm x 70.5 mm x 8.7 mm but it weighs in at just 135 grams.
Now this is not just a re-skinned Galaxy S III. Samsung has improved its design and allows for a massive 2,300mAh battery to fit in that slim 8.7 mm frame. Connectivity options include HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3 and NFC. I expect an LTE version will also be released.
Internal storage is either 16 GB or 32 GB, but Windows Phone 8 now supports memory expansion slots and the Samsung ATIV S has a microSD card slot to allow expansion of its 16GB or 32GB built-in storage.
Pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed, but I am pretty sure this smartphone will hit the shelves immediately after Microsoft officially releases the Windows Phone 8 in October this year. Expect a price similar to the Galaxy S III.
When the first Windows Phone 7 device launched, they were competitive in terms of hardware, but the software was a bit behind the curve. By the time Windows Phone 7.5 was out, the supported hardware was outdated due to lack of multi-core processor support. With Windows Phone 8 and phones like the ATIV S, the Windows Phone platform fight Apple and the Android world on equal footing.
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