For fanboys of the Windows Phone platform, October was a big month because this was when Microsoft held an event in New York and announced the lineup of new smartphones running Windows Phone 8, the latest iteration of the software giant’s mobile operating system. We saw the Nokia Lumia 920 and the HTC Windows Phone 8X get introduced to the smartphone-buying population that day for the patform’s high-end smartphones along with a bevy of devices from the mid-range category.
However, even before Microsoft, Nokia and HTC took center stage a couple of months back to unveil their respective portfolios of Windows Phone 8-powered smartphones, Korean electronics giant Samsung already beat everybody to the punch when it came out in August and unveiled the Samsung ATIV S, its entry to the high-end category of the platform. This makes the Samsung ATIV S the first Windows Phone 8-powered handset to reach official status but with this irony of all ironies, the handset may be first to get announced but it is also last to arrive on the shelves.
Looking back, Nokia and HTC have already released their respective WP8-powered handsets as early as November but Samsung is yet to announce as to when the Samsung ATIV S is expected to make its debut in the shelves. In fact, such is the anticipation for the handset that its release date (or lack thereof) has had more than its fair share of digital ink these past couple of days. A lot of contradicting reports came out but in reality, it looks like the Samsung ATIV S is still not yet ready for a global rollout.
However, our Canadian smartphone-crazed brethren are luckier than most – especially those waiting to get their hands on the Samsung ATIV S. After all, the once elusive handset has finally landed in Canadian shores and is now being offered by three Canadian wireless providers. If you happen to live north of the border are interested in making the Samsung ATIV S your next mobile weapon of choice, you have the option of selecting between TELUS, Rogers and Bell as to whom you would purchase the handset from. You have to act quickly on this though because according to the trio of Canadian carriers, the Samsung ATIV S is available in their respective shelves but only in limited quantities. None of the three however confirmed as to when they will have their full inventory of the Samsung ATIV S.
As for the Samsung ATIV S, the handset is powered by a QualComm MSM8960 SnapDragon S4 chipset and this SoC brings into play a dual-core Krait processor clocked at 1.5 GHz along with a full gigabyte of RAM. The handset is available in a 16GB and a 32GB version in terms of storage capacity and a user also has the option to have the internal memory of the handset expanded by using the Samsung ATIV S’s dedicated microSD card slot. In terms of its display, the Samsung ATIV S sports a 4.8-inch SuperAMOLED HD panel with a 1280 x 720 resolution while its camera department boasts of a rear 8MP shooter and a front 1.9MP video call and self-portrait camera.
