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Samsung has unveiled five new notebook and tablet computers at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 show in Las Vegas this week, offering consumers and business users a wide range of screen sizes and configurations that will help them find the right devices for their needs.
The new notebook, the ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition, is a Windows 8 machine that includes improved portability and features along with a slim case, a claimed 14-hour battery life on a full charge and a sharp 15.6-inch display that’s 20 percent brighter than previous ATIV notebooks, the company said in a Jan. 7 statement. The notebook will run Intel i5 or i7 CPUs depending on configuration, and will include 8GB of RAM and solid-state drives (SSDs) of up to 1,024GB.
The new display in the ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition includes a 125 percent improvement over earlier models as well as wide-angle viewing for users, according to Samsung. Also included is a new UL Certified ergonomically designed keyboard that provides users with improved performance and comfort while typing. The new notebook, which will be offered with a black case, also will include improved sound with the SPlayer+ lossless audio player and a high-performance Wolfson DAC chip.
Meanwhile, the new Galaxy NotePro and three different TabPro tablets will be available with screen sizes of 12.2 inches (NotePro) or 12.2, 10.1 or 8.4 inches (TabPro), according to Samsung.
“We created the Galaxy NotePro and TabPro series to kick-off a year in which Samsung truly establishes its leadership in the tablet market,” J.K. Shin, the CEO and president of Samsung’s IT & Mobile Division, said in a statement.
All of the new NotePro and TabPro devices include a WQXGA display, as well as built-in productivity tools, according to Samsung. All four machines run on the Android 4.4 KitKat mobile operating system.
The 12.2-inch NotePro and 12.2- and 10.1-inch TabPro tablets include different CPUs based on the wireless options chosen by purchasers. Devices equipped with WiFi and 3G wireless options will use a 1.3GHz or 1.9GHz quad-core Exynos 5 Octa CPU, while devices equipped with LTE wireless capabilities will run on 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPUs, according to Samsung. The 8.4-inch TabPro tablet will run using 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPUs in most markets.
The 12.2-inch models of the Galaxy NotePro and TabPro tablets include a widescreen display with 2,560-by-1,600 resolution using more than 4 million pixels, according to Samsung.
Users will be able to personalize their displays using Magazine UX, which allows users to “organize their favorite content in an easy-to-use dashboard with automatic feed or news updates and then quickly access the most frequently used apps for a more comfortable reading experience.” Magazine UX allows users to view their content more easily in an improved format that is comparable to reading from print magazines, according to Samsung.
The built-in productivity tools include Multi Window, which lets users split the screen into four windows, as well as a Virtual Keyboard, which gives users “enough space to type comfortably, leveraging haptic feedback to produce a more realistic typing experience,” according to Samsung.
The NotePro model also includes a Samsung S Pen, which gives users “a more responsive, productive and overall efficient tablet experience with access to features such as Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write and S Finder.” The Pen Window feature lets users draw a window of any size on the screen and instantly access unique in-application features such as YouTube or a calculator, Samsung said.
A Remote PC feature is also available to Galaxy NotePro or TabPro users, enabling them to access needed files that are on their home or office PCs. The new machines are also equipped with Cisco WebEx Meetings software so that they can be used for Web conferencing.
Also included are application packages that provide prepaid, long-term subscriptions to popular content, including Bitcasa, Bloomberg Businessweek+, Blurb, Cisco WebEx Meetings, Dropbox, Easilydo Pro for Tablet, Evernote, Hancom Office for Android, LinkedIn, LIVESPORT.TV, The New York Times, Oxford Advanced Learner’s A-Z and Sketchbook Pro, according to Samsung. The included content pages, which are worth a claimed $700, vary by region, the company stated.