Samsung Series 7 Slate and Series 5 Ultra Devices With Windows 8
Samsung gears up for the October launch of Windows 8 with new products.
August 29, 2012 — -- Samsung doesn't only have a new very large Android phone in store for this holiday season; it's also planning a series of Windows 8 computers, including a tablet with a keyboard, and a laptop with a touch screen.
The Series 7 Slate is like a few of the other Windows 8 devices we've seen announced -- it is part tablet and part keyboard. The tablet will have an 11.6-inch screen. It will be sold as a package with the keyboard, will run Windows 8 Pro and will be powered by Intel processors. Samsung is hoping it can appeal to users for both work and play.
Helping with the work aspect is a stylus -- Samsung's S Pen -- which pops out of the side of the tablet. It's the same pen found on the new Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Galaxy Note 2. Samsung will also have a version of S Memo and S Note for Windows 8.
Speaking of Windows 8, Samsung has made some tweaks of its own to Microsoft's forthcoming operating system. It's added a Start Menu launcher called the S Launcher to the Desktop in Windows 8. (In Windows 8 the Start Menu -- the screen of tiles -- replaces the Start Menu.) It has also added a number of preloaded apps, including one for adjusting battery and power settings, that will live on the Desktop and the Start screen.
The Series 7 Slate with a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB solid-state drive, and the keyboard dock will start at $1,199. The Slate with a lower-powered Clover Trail processor, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB solid-state drive and keyboard will start at $749.
Microsoft will offer a comparable tablet called the Surface. Microsoft still hasn't released pricing on its Surface tablets.
But Samsung has a couple of other Windows 8 products up its sleeve, including the Series 5 Ultra laptop, which has a touchscreen. The laptop has a 14-inch touchscreen and a full keyboard and touchpad. A version of the Series 5 Ultra with a Core i3 processor from Intel, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive will start at $799. Going up to a Core i5 processor will bring it up to $899.
Samsung also announced two all-in-one desktops with Windows 8 earlier this week and an ATIV Tab today at its press conference in Berlin. All of the company's Windows 8 products will be available on Oct. 26 when Windows 8 is officially released.