Where does one start with Samsung's ATIV Q dual OS convertible tablet? Well, it's a dual OS convertible tablet — a huge convertible tablet, with a 13.3-inch starring a world's highest 3200 x 1800, 275 pixels per inch resolution screen (MacBook Pro 13.3-inch Retina screen: 2560 x 1600, 227 ppi) that sits on top of a full QWERTY keyboard. Yet the ATIV Q is only 13.9 mm thick (by comparison, an iPad is 9.4mm at its thickest point), that runs both Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and the full desktop version of Windows 8.
More pedantic, but still newsworthy in tablet land is the ATIV Tab 3, which Samsung claims is the world's thinnest 10.1-inch tablet at 8.2mm thick.
As with the just unveiled Samsung Galaxy NX CSC digital camera and Galaxy S4 Zoom smartphone, Samsung declined to say when and for how much the two ATIV's will sell.
Any gadget-laden person who needs to work away from the office is always faced by a conundrum: can I get away with just a tablet, or do I need to schlep around my laptop? The 13.3-inch ATIV Q is aimed at removing the whole question because it does both, and weighs just 2.84 pounds; by comparison, Apple's 13.3-inch MacBook Air weighs 2.96 pounds and only runs one operating system, not three.
For some reason, Samsung failed to supply ATIV Q samples for hands-on examination at its New York demo with the other new products actually unveiled in London. That's why the photos in the gallery look studio sterile and why I can't tell you how the ATIV Q feels in the hand. So we'll have to stick with the specs.
Really more convertible laptop than tablet, the ATIV Q screen nestles atop a full QWERTY keyboard. Not only does it run both Android and Windows 8, you can also mix-and-match — one example given was being able to play the Angry Birds Android app in Windows. Samsung says you can also transfer files from Windows to Android; the wording of this description implies you can't transfer in the opposite direction.
As a notebook, ATIV Q features a multi-jointed hinge similar to the Acer Aspire R7's Ezel hinge, which lets you position the ATIV Q screen in a variety of landscape angles, include rear-facing for presentations across a desk, standard clamshell fashion, several entertaining but ultimately useless angles and, of course, flat back to the keyboard tablet-style.
Samsung also says its high-res screen readily adapts to varying lighting conditions both indoor but especially outdoor, the bête noir of all LCD screens.
Inside the ATIV Q is a fourth-gen (the newest) Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel HD Graphics 4400 graphics chip, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of SSD storage, a 720p rear camera and a battery supplying up to 9 hours of tableting or laptopping.
Well, not blank slate, exactly (that's what "tabula rasa" translates to), but a white 10.1-inch tablet that, as noted, Samsung claims is the world's thinnest (this week), and running the full version of Windows 8, not RT.
As noted, ATIV Tab 3 is just 8.2mm thick (iPad: 9.4 mm) and weighs just 1.21 pounds (iPad: 1.46 pounds), features a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, includes 64GB of flashs torage (it's unknown if it'll come in lower configs). Most interesting is the ATIV Tab 3 runs on a dual core 1.8GHz Intel ATOM Z2760 processor and not any of Samsung's custom mobile processors. The Intel chip supposedly gives the ATIV Tab 3 10 hours of battery life.
Both ATIVs also include a stylus and run Samsung's S Pen applications. Both also include something Samsung calls SideSync, which merge an Android phone with the Windows 8 functionality. For instance, you can use the ATIV larger keyboard to respond to a text on a smartphone, or view maps from your smartphone on the larger screen, or edit smartphone photos or videos on the bigger ATIV screen. Samsung says you can even use ATIV to backup and charge mobile devices.
Along with lack of hands-on samples of the ATIV Q, Samsung minders maintained control over the two ATIV Tab 3 samples, so there was no opportunity to get a demo of any of these features. Hopefully we'll get our hands on one at some point.
(All images courtesy of Samsung.)
Samsung's ever-expanding Galaxy range of Android gadgets took a back seat at the Korean company's showbiz London launch last night, with the bonkers Ativ Q Windows-Android hybrid slider tablet the pick of the new kit.
The Ativ Q is a Windows 8 tablet with a difference -- as well as sliding from tablet to laptop, it can switch into Android Jelly Bean too, so you can take advantage of Google Play's plethora of games and apps.
Samsung hasn't announced how much the 13-inch slider-slate will cost, but I'm really hoping it'll be affordable. Its 3,200x1,800-pixel resolution screen implies it'll be pretty pricey, but fingers crossed.
The two OSes run on the same brand-new Intel Haswell chip and are amazingly well integrated. You can pin Android apps to your Windows homescreen, just as you would a Windows app or web page, so when you tap it, it opens Android -- which only takes a second -- and then opens your app. You can even have two apps open on different OSes at the same time.
Until we get the thing in for review we don't know exactly how it works or what restrictions there might be. But in our short hands-on time, it was seriously impressive, and seemed like a great way round the lack of apps on Windows Marketplace. I don't imagine Microsoft's too happy about that, but hey. Here's Luke going hands-on last night:
Also on show last night was a compact system camera that's a more powerful phone than most phones. The Samsung Galaxy NX is a followup to the excellent Galaxy Camera, with swappable lenses, a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, 16GB of storage and a huge 4.8-inch screen.
The Ativ One 5 Style has maybe the most confusing name of any tech product this year, having neither one nor five of anything -- it's a 21.5-inch all-in-one touchscreen PC that looks a lot like a huge Galaxy Tab, with a thick white plastic bezel. With HDMI in and out and a Full HD screen, it could be a great space-saving TV and computer in one. Speaking of Tabs, there was a new Ativ Tab 3, a 10-inch Windows 8 tablet that's only 8.2mm thick.
New last night were two Ativ laptops too, the formidable 3,200x1,800-pixel Ativ Book 9 Plus, and the more modest white Ativ Book 9 Lite, both with Windows 8 and touchscreens.
Samsung took the opportunity to show off previously announced Galaxy blowers, including the S4 Mini, S4 Active and S4 Zoom. The dual-core Mini is hardly worthy of the S4 moniker, but the rough-and-tumble Active is a classy bruiser, and the Zoom is almost more camera than phone. You can check out all our hands-on first impressions over on the big site, CNET.com:
What do you make of Samsung's new gear? Anything catch your eye? Would you use a dual Windows-Android device? Deliver your verdict in the comments below, or over on our prolific Facebook page.
Update: Changed a mention of booting into Android for 'switch' because as a commenter points out below, Android is probably virtualised within Windows.
The Samsung ATIV Q runs the risk of feeling cluttered and clumsy, but Samsung promises the two distinct operating systems are individually hosted but provide strong, seamless file and data transitions work together well, quietly and behind the scenes.
Convertibles have been threatening to push a new forge in the tablet and notebook scenes for some time; can the Samsung ATIV Q finally win the battle for the hybrids? We go hands-on to see for ourselves.
The Samsung ATIV Q is 13.9mm thick and 1.29kg in weight. Although not slight by any stretch of the imagination, it's no heavier than rival ultrabooks that the ATIV Q is best compared against.
The Samsung ATIV Q’s rather smooth design is broken up by all manner of connection ports, including a single USB 3.0, a USB 2.0 connection, microHDMI and a microSD slot.
The Q’s design is functional more than attractive but, with time, we can see it growing on us and winning us over with its multiple forms and convertible options.
The Q’s screen is vibrant and eye catching on first impressions, with colours proving expansive and with a pleasing level of subtlety. Brightness was impressive in the garishly artificial lighting of our hands-on environment, but will require further testing in a variety of conditions.
A screen to rival those on many ultrabooks, the Q’s display features strong viewing angles and its touch panel proved responsive and accurate during early tests.
Windows 8 makes a good foundation for the Samsung ATIV Q, with Android present to provide some much needed glamour. Sadly, Samsung’s TouchWiz UI is missing, leaving plain old Android to hold the fort. Keeping things running smoothly across the two platforms, Android apps can be pinned to the Windows 8 homescreen, creating seamless shortcuts between the two content levels.
The Samsung ATIV Q’s performance is further enhanced with SideSync compatibility, letting you use your smartphone as a second screen. This requires further testing before we are able to pass judgement.
With a 128GB SSD providing ample storage, the Samsung ATIV Q claims a 9 hour battery life. We were unable to test this claim during our hands-on and so will take a further look in our full ATIV Q review in the near future.
The products keep coming. The latest announcement from Samsung is a new addition to its ATIV range and it's a hybrid in more ways than one. Similar to the ASUS Transformer Book Trio, announced earlier this month at Computex, Samsung just introduced its own dual-OS portable. It's called the ATIV Q, and it combines Android 4.2 and Windows 8. Under the hood, the device is powered by a Haswell-series Intel Core i5 processor and manages to fit a 13.3-inch, 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen into a 1.29kg package that measures just 13.9mm thick. Other notable specs include an S Pen with 1,024 degrees of sensitivity. There's space for the stylus to be stored in the bottom corner of the device. Hardware considerations have also been folded into the design, with the processor housed inside the ATIV Q's hinge. Samsung says that this ensures that heat dissipates from the back of the device.
A software highlight from this particular Windows 8-Android team-up is the ability to share files (photos, documents... seemingly anything that can be opened with programs on the other OS) and share folders across the operating system divide. We can certainly see the usefulness in this approach -- sharing images to your favorite Android social app and generally unifying how you use the hybrid, regardless of OS. The ATIV Q will launch globally in Q3, and we've been told "in time for the back-to-school season", which sounds like sooner rather than later. We've managed to spend a bit of time with the new multi-talented slider: check out some first impressions after the break.
Update: We just added some video.
17 Photos
We immediately noticed the resolution bump provided by the Q's display. Samsung's new qHD+ panel ensures there are a whole lot of pixels on that 13.3-inch screen. The inclusion of Intel's new Haswell processors also means we're expecting battery life to power through a respectable number of hours, regardless of the new power-hungry display, though we'll have to wait for review models to arrive before we can confirm this.
Samsung says that the ATIV Q actually has four driving options. Tablet and typing are the two fundamental ones, of course, but you can add to that a floating mode (for stand-up typists: the screen remains parallel to the keyboard, and you type beneath), as well as a stand option, where you can flip the screen at right angles to the keyboard, displaying Windows or Android to someone seated opposite of you. The screen automatically flips to ensure your audience is looking at your all-important spreadsheets -- or cat GIFs -- right side up. The hinge felt rigid enough and there's access to a microSD slot within it. Given the size of the device, the choice to go with a mouse nub over a trackpad is understandable, if slightly disappointing. This editor prefers his Windows 8 machines with a decent trackpad and while the touchscreen should ameliorate a lot of gesture issues, we'd still prefer to have the option there.
Flipping between Windows and Android is effortless, with an onscreen tile on the desktop OS and a launch app on Google's mobile interface. We particularly liked the ability to transplant apps from the Android menu to our Windows tile collection -- there's a shortcut above the app menu when you select something from it. Dropping it on top will install it to Windows 8's Modern UI, and when we tapped to launch within Windows, it went straight into the app. There's no need to switch to Android in between.
The company's apparently worked hard to offer a very similar user experience to its Galaxy Tab range and our experience agreed with that -- it felt like a slightly thick Android tablet when we were swiping around the web, menus or obligatory rounds of Angry Birds. (There's also a built-in accelerometer for tilt-to-steer games). However, running on just a single Haswell processor (rather than splitting up the workload, as seen on the Transformer Book Trio) we're wondering how long the ATIV Q will run on the more lightweight workload of Android. Despite that, Samsung continues to work on its knack for mashing-up gadgets and we can't help but be intrigued by this one.
Samsung's Galaxy S line of Android phones, including the recent Galaxy S4, has been a hit for the company. But now the company is hoping to bring that Android success and familiarity to other products. Or at least allow Android users the ability to get to their Android apps across a number of devices, even if they run on a Windows PC or a camera.
At a press conference in London today, the company unveiled two new products that incorporate the Android operating system: the ATIV Q Windows 8 tablet and the Galaxy NX camera.
Samsung's ATIV line of tablets have all run Windows 8 (unlike its Galaxy Tab or Galaxy Note line, which are powered by Google's Android software). With the announcement of the ATIV Q, users can own a tablet that switches between Windows 8 and Android on the fly. Patrick Pavel, the VP of European ATIV Marketing for Samsung, added that Android apps can be pinned to the Windows task bar, as well as opened directly in Windows 8.
The idea of Android running on a Windows 8 PC isn't entirely new -- Lenovo and Asus have done similar things with allowing Android to run separately. However, Samsung's new features make the apps and the Google operating system more integrated than other products.
While converting between Android and Windows is a big draw for the ATIV Q, the tablet itself can also convert. Flipping the screen up reveals a keyboard hiding underneath. The display can also be oriented completely parallel or perpendicular to the keyboard, depending on whatever configuration is best for the user.
The display itself is impressive too. Samsung calls it QHD+, cramming 275 pixels per inch on a 13.3 inch display. The tablet itself is only 13.9 mm thick, weighs in at 1.29 kg (approximately 3 pounds), and claims to have nine hours of battery life.
The Android love doesn't end there. Similiar to the Galaxy Camera released last year, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy NX camera. The camera is also outfitted with Android and allows photographers to download apps like Instagram or Facebook and instantly share their photos over the camera's 4G LTE connection.
"You will always be connected so you can share photos and HD video anywhere and anytime," Jean-Daniel Ayme, the VP of European Telecom Operations, said at the event. He also said it is the world's first interchangeable lens camera with 4G LTE.
As for the hardware itself, the camera includes a 20.3-megapixel sensor and a large 4.8 inch display. The camera also houses a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and a separate image signaling processor that gives it more speed and power compared with other digital cameras. No U.S. pricing or availability was released, but expect it to cost more than the $500 Galaxy Camera, which was released last year.