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Samsung has sold tens of millions of Galaxy handsets, likely many of them to Apple Mac, MacBook and iPad owners, and now it’s working to further their conversion. Microsoft users? It wants to take those, too.
During a June 20 event in London, Samsung showed off the ATIV Book 9 Plus and Book 9 lite laptops; the ATIV One 5 Style all-in-one desktop; the ATIV Q, a rather new kind of convertible tablet; and the ATIV Tab 3—the world’s thinnest Windows tablet, and one running a full version of Windows 8 while also offering access to Android applications.
Samsung’s hour-long presentation also included the introduction of the Galaxy NX, the first interchangeable-lens camera with Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiFi connectivity; and better introductions to the Galaxy S4 Zoom camera and water-resistant Galaxy S 4 Active smartphone than either received in recent press releases.
“At Samsung, we have listened further to our customers around the world for inspiration. Based on their needs and desires, we are striving to take innovation one step further,” said DJ Lee, Samsung executive vice president and head of sales and marketing, introducing the event.
Samsung ATIV Q
The ATIV Q is something. It has a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 275 pixels per inch and measures 12.87 by 8.54 by 0.55 inches. That’s considerably larger than the Apple iPad with Retina display (you know, for comparison’s sake), which has a 9.7-inch display with 265 ppi and measures 9.5 by 7.31 by 0.37 inches.
But the ATIV Q runs two operating systems, Windows 8 and Android 2.2 (Jelly Bean), and transforms into four modes: straight-up tablet; the sort of up-and-back laptop mode we’ve seen from some Windows 8 convertibles; a hover mode, where the display is parallel with but above and slightly off-center from the keyboard; and stand mode, so you can watch a movie, with the display’s back to the keyboard.
It also comes with an S Pen, for taking notes and annotating documents.
Samsung ATIV Tab 3
The ATIV Tab 3 is now the world’s thinnest Windows 8 tablet, according to Samsung. It’s 0.32 inches thin, gets 10 hours of battery life and also comes with an S Pen.
“When you compare this tablet to other tablets out there,” Jean-Daniel Ayme, an understated Frenchman and Samsung’s vice president of European telecom operations, said at the London event, “we think you will think it’s better.”
Samsung Galaxy NX
If the Galaxy S 4 Zoom is a smartphone-meets-camera for the getting-serious amateur. The Galaxy NX is a serious camera onto which professional lenses can be fitted, and the first with 3G, 4G and LTE connectivity.
“The 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor produces images which are bright and detailed, even in low-light conditions, while the DRIMe IV image signal processor delivers the speed and accuracy which today’s photographers demand,” Samsung said in a statement.
It includes an Advanced Hybrid Auto Focus (AF) system, 1/6,000-second shutter speed and 8.6 frames-per-second shooting. It runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and has a 4.8-inch high-definition thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD display.
Samsung ATIV Event Includes Tablet Running Android, Windows 8
ATIV Book 9 Plus, Book 9 Lite
The ATIV Books are Samsung’s answer to the MacBook Air.
The 13-inch measures 12.8 by 8.94 by 0.68 inches at its thickest point; at its thinnest, it’s 0.11. The ATIV Book 9 Plus measures 12.6 by 8.8 by 0.54 inches. The Apple weighs 1.35 kilograms, the Samsung 1.39.
Both the Book 9 Plus and Lite feature 13.3-inch touch displays—though the former with a resolution of 3200 by 1800 to the latter’s 1366 by 768—and run Windows 8, have 720p HD camera and up to 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) storage.
The Plus features up to a Core i7 processor and an Intel HD Graphics 4400 chip, gets 12 hours of battery life, and will come in Ash Black. The Lite runs up to a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, gets 8.5 hours of battery life, and will come in Ash Black or white.
With them, Samsung introduced a feature called HomeSync Lite, which enables users to sync their smartphones with their PCs to back up content, but also to operate a phone’s screen from the laptop.
Samsung ATIV One 5 Style
The One 5 bears a strong resemblance to the Apple iMac, but with a wider, thicker foot holding its 21.5-inch screen aloft.
It runs Windows 8 and an Advanced Micro Devices A6 quad-core processor, has 4GB of storage, up to a 1-terabyte hard drive, three USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) in and out, a 3-in-1 card reader and will come in white only.
Galaxy S 4 News
While showing off its new line—executives also gave the Galaxy S 4 Active a dunk in an aquarium, to prove its water resistance—they added that sales of the S 4, which was introduced in March, are going swimmingly. Though for any holdouts, it provided further motivation—the addition of five new colors: pink, brown, red, purple and blue.
Finally, Samsung also tweaked its marketing message a bit. If the Galaxy S III was “inspired by nature,” the Galaxy S 4 and ATIV devices (which by the way are produced ah-tiv, not A-tiv) are “your life, reflected,” said a voiceover. “Everything begins with you.”
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