At the IFA expo in Berlin this week, Samsung is showing off its first Windows Phone 8 device, the Ativ S, as well as its new Galaxy Note II, an update of its famously giant smartphone with a stylus pen.
Samsung’s Ativ S (at left) with Windows Phone 8 is quite a looker: it has a thin 8.7 mm brushed aluminum body with a large 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED display made from Corning Gorilla Glass 2. Because the Ativ’s bezel slightly bulges out, then tapers toward the back, the phone doesn’t feel as large as it is. To power the phone on and return to the home screen, the ATIV S has an actual Windows button on the front instead of a capactitive on-screen button.
The phone’s guts aren’t bad, either: 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB of onboard RAM, an 8MP autofocus rear camera, and 1.9MP front-facing camera. You can choose from 16GB or 32GB models, both of which have a MicroSD slot for more storage. The Ativ is powered by a 2300mAh battery.
Samsung didn’t say when the Ativ S will be available, but our guess is it will be out well before the end of the year.
Galaxy Note II
Samsung has also updated the Galaxy Note, its largest phone with a stylus. The Galaxy Note II (pictured below left) is slightly longer and slighly narrower, bumping up the screen size a notch to 5.5 inches and the HD Super AMOLED screen resolution down to 1,280 x 720 pixels compared to the first gen Note’s 1,280 x 800 pixel display. It comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The Galaxy Note II is speedier too: it runs on a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor — up from 1.4GHz on the first gen Galaxy Note — and packs 2GB of RAM, up from 1GB. The battery has been bumped up to 3,100mAh.
The Note II now comes in three storage options: 16, 32, and 64GB, plus microSD card storage of up to 64GB.
The rear camera is still 8MP, but the front camera has gotten a slight bump down from 2MP to 1.9 MP. The new Note also packs version 4.0 and is NFC enabled.
Samsung says it will release the Galaxy Note II in North America later this year, but did not provide exact timing.
