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Samsung Series 5 Slate reaches out and touches the FCC
Samsung has just days to go before the Series 5 Slate (and ATIV Smart PC) arrives hand-in-hand with the official launch of Windows 8, so we're surprised that it's been waiting so long to clear the usual regulatory hurdles in the US. Just in the nick of time, though, the 11-inch tablet has passed by the FCC for approval. There's no hidden surprises to go with the testing -- this is the regular Series 5 with Bluetooth and dual-band WiFi, but no visible NFC or the AT&T model's LTE. As such, we're more curious about when Samsung's Series 7 Slate and Series 5 Ultra Touch reach the FCC's doors. They'll likely arrive soon, but any significant delay could put them on the sidelines for Microsoft's big moment.
Samsung ATIV SmartPC for AT&T hands-on (update: video)
We knew we were going to get to spy some sleek new devices from AT&T today, but the company sprung a bit of a surprise on us at the last moment by announcing that it would also have a few Windows 8 tabs on hand running on its "blazingly fast" LTE network. The Samsung ATIV SmartPC, which has also gone under the name Series 5 Slate in a few other circles. The 1.5GHz Clover Trail chip inside hummed along in our brief hands on, chewing through the gorgeous don't-call-it-metro UI with relative ease and loading a few apps and webpages with nary a pause. With 64GB of storage on board there should be plenty of room for basic productivity apps and a view movies. Though, if you're a serious MP3 hoarder, we wouldn't expect to carry your whole music collection with you.
AT&T gets its hands on ASUS VivoTab RT and Samsung ATIV Smart PC, wants to put them in yours this holiday
AT&T just packed a one-two punch of holiday tablet news, announcing that it's going to serve as the exclusive US carrier for both ASUS's VivoTab RT and Samsung ATIV Smart PC, both of which were originally unveiled this summer. The ASUS offers up a quad-core processor, LTE and a 10.1-inch IPS display in a thin and light form factor. The somewhat beefy Samsung, on the other hand, has an 11.6 inch HD PLS display, 1.5GHZ processor and 64GB of storage. Not much on specifics on availability at this point, beyond the fact that both will be hitting AT&T's site and stores "in time for the holidays."
Hands-on with the Samsung ATIV Smart PC (aka the Series 5 Slate)
Would a Series 5 Slate be just as sweet under any other name? We've already got hands-on with the ATIV Smart PC Pro (called the Series 7 Slate in the US) and now we're going to show you the wonder that is the ATIV Smart PC -- aka, the Series 5 Slate on this side of the Atlantic. And what can we say? It's a lot like the Series 7 we checked out, though this guy is of course a smidge thinner and lighter, given the fanless design and inclusion of an Atom-based Clover Trail processor instead of something in the Ivy Bridge family. Another difference: that 11.6 inch display. It's still bright, of course, but the resolution is a lower 1,366 x 768, as opposed to the 1080p panel used in the Series 7 / Smart PC Pro. That caveat aside, the Series 5 / Smart PC is still pretty sexy, with that vibrant display and brushed metal back -- though, as mentioned in our hands-on with the dock, that beauty clashes a bit with the relative cheapness of the keyboard. As you may have read, the two slates also have stylus slots, though the S Pen was nowhere in sight during our demo -- perhaps to keep it out of the hands of sneaky bloggers. In the meantime, we've got some hands-on photos, but we encourage you to refer back to our Series 7 / Smart PC Pro hands-on to compare the designs, and get a better feel for the custom apps Samsung has bundled.%Gallery-163715% Dana Wollman contributed to this report.
Samsung calling its dockable Windows 8 tablets ATIV Smart PC and Smart PC Pro outside the US
Samsung didn't leave its ATIV introductions to just an ARM tablet and a phone. We first saw them as the Series 5 and Series 7 tablets, which will likely be their final US names; to recap, though, the newly branded ATIV Smart PC and ATIV Smart PC Pro both look to capture some of that Transformer-like aura by mating an 11.6-inch tablet with a detachable keyboard dock for a laptop experience. Some of Samsung's own Galaxy Note vibe rubs off on them, too -- both carry an S Pen and a bundled S Note app for some on-the-spot writing. They likewise share support for 3G and 4G as well as micro-HDMI and USB, but there's a clear difference depending on what you buy. Going for the regular Smart PC loads in a modest Clover Trail-based Intel Atom processor and a 1,366 x 768 display, but offers a lengthy 13.5-hour battery life, 2GB of RAM, up to a 128GB flash drive, a rear 8-megapixel camera and a 2-megapixel front camera. Slap that "Pro" moniker on the front and you have to drop to eight hours of battery life and a 5-megapixel rear camera, but you'll get a much faster Core i5 processor, a 1080p display, 4GB of RAM and as much as a 256GB SSD. Unlike the ATIV Tab, we do know the Smart PCs will be available in the US on October 26th at $649 for a base Smart PC/Series 5, $749 for a bundle with the keyboard and $1,119 for a Smart PC Pro/Series 7 with a 128GB SSD built-in. %Gallery-163718%
Samsung ATIV Smart PC dock hands-on
And hey, what's a Windows 8 tablet without a docking station? Sure enough, Samsung was showing off a snazzy one tonight that turns your bright and beautiful ATIV Smart PC (which is a bit chunkier than its brother) into a notebook. The tablet slots into the top of the keyboard dock, with the Windows 8 button obscured slightly by the top of the dock. The device does look a fair amount like a netbook when it's firmly nestled inside. But we have to say, the quality of the dock doesn't match the beauty of the tablet itself, the plasticky bottom clashing with the brushed aluminum backing, particularly where the lip shows up slightly on the rear of the device. When using the dock, you're likely going to spend most of your time in the classic UI -- and when you want to switch, you can just hit the button at the top of the dock to release the tablet from its docky prison. The buttons and trackpad feel a bit like a low-end netbook, and we had to do some fiddling to get that mouse across the desktop. We're hoping that Samsung will either release a slicker version or we'll be seeing something from a third-party manufacturer. In the meantime, the dock feels more like a second home for the tablet, best saved for those rare occasions when you'll need to do, say, some serious word processing.%Gallery-163712%
