Samsung to give life with tablets, laptops, and a phone made for Windows 8

The Samsung ATIV range announced at IFA 2012.

You may have heard that Microsoft is planning on launching its next big thing in the next few months, and Samsung is going to be giving it a lot of attention, with four – count ’em – devices designed specifically for the next version of Windows.

Introduced at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany where a whole bunch of other gadgets are making their debut, the ATIV line of devices will be proving that Samsung isn’t all Android by pushing the Windows platform to customers.

The Intel Atom powered Samsung ATIV Smart PC.

“Samsung is delighted to introduce a wide portfolio of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8-powered devices,” said Samsung’s Seong Woo Nam, Executive Vice President of IT Solutions in Business for the company.

“With our leadership in design and technology and Microsoft’s leadership in operating systems, together we are able to provide customers with a full range of ATIV devices for cross-category convergence.”

For Samsung, the name “ATIV” comes from “Vita”, which if you remember when Sony launched its own Vita console last year, means life.

In fact, Samsung is even trying to cement the ATIV line-up by saying in its press release that the name “is a pledge by Samsung to make everyone’s life extraordinary with excitement.”

All we know is that “Galaxy” looks to be Samsung’s Android line, and “ATIV” reserved for Windows devices.

The Samsung ATIV Tab S with Windows RT.

Four products make up the ATIV range from this announcement, with one phone, and one dedicated tablet, and two Ultrabook Touch computers that blend both the thin and sleek design normally seen on Ultrabooks with a detachable touchscreen slate, similar to what Asus has working for it in the Transformer range of computers.

First up, the ATIV Tab, and it’s Samsung’s own competition to Microsoft’s own Surface RT tablet.

The ATIV Tab will feature a 10.1 inch tablet with 1366×768 resolution, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, 1.9 megapixel front camera, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi a/b/g/n, microHDMI, Near-Field Communication technology, 32 to 64GB storage built-in, and a microSD slot for expanding it.

It will also feature the same operation system, with Windows RT present here, the same version appearing on the Microsoft Surface tablet.