By At some point we’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that Samsung isn’t going to put all its eggs in the Android basket forever. We’ve enjoyed and will continue to enjoy the Galaxy line of tablets and smartphones, but it looks like they will be going full speed ahead with branding and marketing for their Windows portfolio.
Our sister site WinSource reported on new trademark filings that revealed Samsung would be marketing a new upcoming line of tablets and phones with the name “ATIV.” With the Galaxy name being an Android mainstay, we can only guess that names will be designated for a line of high-end Windows smartphones and tablets.
Specifically, the Samsung ATIV Tab and Samsung ATIV S were outed, leading us to believe they’ll be coming out with a high-end Windows phone as well as a Windows 8 tablet to go along with it.
But with all the amazing things Samsung’s done on Android what could they possibly be ready to offer to those who prefer Windows? TouchWiz as we know it can’t be run on any Windows phone, and that’s one of the main reasons to buy their products in the first place. We can’t say for sure if the same thing goes for Windows 8, but we’d guess “yes.”
Without any current knowledge of what their plans might be it’s a bit too early to determine whether or not this new line will be enough to get people to defect from the Galaxy regime, but we’re still curious: do you think the ATIV line will have the opportunity to overtake the throne that the Galaxy line has defended so long?
It’s hard to imagine the highly marketable and long-running Galaxy line will be supplanted any time soon, if at all. It’d take a lot of killer features because if Samsung can’t emulate what they were able to do with the Galaxy Note 10.1 then it’s going to be difficult to get anyone to go with anything but.
It’ll be a very intriguing situation to observe for sure, but with no idea of when they’re looking to launch this line and what they’re looking to do with it all we can do is sit back and wait. In the meantime, let us know how you feel about the ATIV line and its potential to compete with the Galaxy line in the poll below, and be sure to leave a comment for further discussion!
PS: if you’re interested in what might become some of the hottest Windows devices around don’t forget to check out the ATIV Tab and ATIV S forums at WinSource.com. [via WinSource]
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Dumb name but it’s smart for Samsung to continue the “Focus S” direction with their Windows Phone line-up.
I’m at least gonna give it a run through.
More competition is better for us consumers!
There aren’t enough options on a Windows Phone, nor a huge drive for development… I just want an Android phone with the features and the apps. Windows Phone is just lackluster…
Android does everything I need, and I like to tinker. No reason to go Windows Phone just because Samsung is making phones for the now.
“TouchWiz as we know it can’t be run on any Windows phone, and that’s one of the main reasons to buy their products in the first place.” Are you kidding me? If I wanted an iPhone I’d have bought an iPhone. I recommend Samsung phones to people based on build, specs, and if they dabble some of the best independent Dev support out there. But to say that Touchwiz is a main reason to buy their phones is idiocy.
I said “one of” the main reasons, and it is one of the main reasons. Sorry to break it to you, but most consumers don’t buy phones based on hackability or developer support, sheer specs, etc. Most people buy them for features, and TouchWiz has an awfully impressive feature-set.
I have a Galaxy Nexus and a GS3, I use the last one because TouchWiz…
When I say Ativ, I sound like a kid who can’t say active right. Am I pronouncing it right? If yes, then please Samsung change the name!
Samsung called their skin on the Omnia, a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone Touch Wiz. As far as I know this was the first or one of the first incarnations of Touch Wiz. And while yes the android version of touch wiz won’t work on a Windows 7 or 8 phone, it WAS originally created for a Windows phone of some kind. I am sure that will not be a hard stretch for sammy.
Also, as someone mentioned before, I don’t buy Android phones for their skins either. I prefer stock, and so far I liked the blur/not a blur from my Droid 3 over Touch Wiz on my SGS 3. I got the GS 3 because it is an amazing device. I would root, and rom to stock, but I really don’t want to mess up my phone, so I will just deal with it for now… at least til I mess with an old phone and get comfrotable messing with my daily phone.
Oh and I would never go with a windows phone ever ever again. Windows Mobile 6.* was such a terrible experience I would never trust MS to run my phone again.
I think it is a good news for WP users, they will can enjoy the best hardware in the market just like us with the GS3.
The main difference will be the OS, Samsung can make the best hardware for Android and WP, but at the end, the OS will say which one is better for each of us.
I use Android, I like the IU of WP, but I still prefer Android and I think it will be good for it too, more competitive devices in with different OSs will push the competition… (sorry Apple, I know you don´t like this word.)
No.
I choose Android because of the ecosystem. Seamless integration of Gmail, Contacts, Reader, Search, Calendar, Docs/Drive, etc.
I think I’d rather just get surface if I was going to get a tab…
Why doesn’t Samsung just use their “Omnia” brand? “Ativ” doesn’t make any sense!
Depends on if they are going to do a cheap x86 tablet for the windows side then I may look into getting one but it will be straight android or cm7/9/10 for my phone. Still running a Samsung Galaxy Prevail that was stock android with bloatware added to it far to much bloatware to where you can not even get a text messege becuase the rom was so stuffed. So yeah needing to root and remove bloat for that exact reason. Running CM7 on my Nook tablet right now and if we can get some apps for windows 8 for x86/arm tablets that compete with The same type of apps we have for android then yeah I can see myself using an x86 tablet with a keyboard/touchpad mouse for when I need top type things up when on the go in libreoffice becuase I will never use the overpriced junk that is Microsoft office. I will stick to the open source software for that. Metro will be fine on a touchscreen but it sucks for the desktop via keyboard/mouse and I could probably do with both with a tablet/keyboard/touchpad combo.
http://goo.gl/pkPQp
^ SPAM
You need a 4th answe: “No, i dont believe in Window Phone 7, 8 or anything Microsoft puts on a phone”
Windows is a good product for enterprise users with Outlook Integration. I had the Lumia 800 and I just loved the mail, twitter and Facebook integration. Windows 7 was pure a ‘social’ phone falling woefully short in other areas. Windows Phone 8 has addressed that issue and can be a game changer. Having said that I do not understand why companies forget their past? Changing wallpapers, customizing my windows 95/XP was a big feature to attract people to it – with windows phone 8 you have killed the wallpaper .. why … would Microsoft kill it?
Ativ = Vita spelt backwards….possible connection?
Yes, both are products that compete with their Android offerings.
Now we have to wait for WP8 wich will allow Samsung to create great devices wich will be better than everyone (except for Asus wich beats the crApple out of anyone on tablets and innovation). Samsung will only be rivaled by htc.
Windows Phone looks like a pretty good experience, but probably not as well suited to me as Android. In any case, at this point I’m invested enough in the Google ecosystem that switching wouldn’t make sense unless Google really messed something up for me. I’m like an Apple user who has so much iTunes content that he can’t upgrade to Android.
Galaxy sounded cheesy to me, but apparently it worked. Ativ doesn’t sound like much, so it just might work too :P
Nexus….now that is a word you want to hear more often :D
Windows Phone OS isn’t bad. I just hate the fact that Microsoft want to couple it with the really crappy bing services. If windows phone came with tight integration into google services such as search and maps, I would give it a go.
It’s VITA reversed.
Probably Samsung is hoping it can reverse Sony PS Vita’s fortune in Windows 8 environment.