Samsung ATIV Tab

Available now
30th August 2012

Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system is really all about touchscreen devices, and the Samsung ATIV Tab is exactly the sort of touchscreen device that Microsoft were thinking of. Well, sort of.. because for the first time, Microsoft is competing head-on with its partners with the Microsoft Surface, which sets the bar very high. And no matter how good the ATIV Tab is underneath, on the surface it just looks like any other slabby Samsung tablet.

Cosmetic appearances apart, the ATIV Tab seems like a solid performer with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of flash plus a microSD slot, a 10.1" 1366 x 768 pixel display, a 5 megapixel primary camera with 720p HD video recording plus a 1.9 megapixel sub camera on the front. The ATIV Tab supports NFC, WiFi, Bluetooth plus GPS and GLONASS positioning systems, but it does not support 3G cellular data.

The size and weight are pretty typical for a device of this type, coming in at 266 x 168 x 8.9mm and 570 grams. Inside is an 8200 mAh battery.

The operating system is Windows RT - a version of Windows 8 that runs on ARM processors which sits between the mobile and desktop versions of Windows 8. It's not the same operating system as the other platforms, but it is based on the same core which should make porting applications simpler, and it may also appeal to corporate customers who want a tablet they can lock down and manage with Active Directory policies.

The ATIV Tab will do pretty much anything you will need it to do out of the box, perhaps the biggest concern is application availability which at the moment appears to be zero. That will change though, and no doubt there will be a version of Angry Birds which seems to be the benchmark these days.

We don't know when the Samsung ATIV Tab will be available as that depends on Microsoft. As for pricing.. well, our guess is that these will be very competitive with Android tablets and might be priced in the €400 to €500 range when it hits retailers.