Samsung might be one of the first vendors to announce a smartphone that will run the new Windows Phone 8 OS when it ships this fall. The device will go by the name of ATIV S — I’m not sure if you’re supposed to pronounce that as a whole word or with each individual letter, but let’s hope it isn’t the latter. It’s a sleek gray handset with a spacious 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED touch screen display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8MP rear-facing camera, and a 1.9MP front-facing camera.
That ATIV name is rumored to be what Samsung will use going forward as a line for all of its Windows Phone devices, just as Galaxy is typically used for many of its Android smartphones. A tablet dubbed the ATIV Tab could debut alongside the ATIV S phone with similar specs, but with a 10.1-inch 1366×768 resolution display and extra storage.
News of the ATIV S comes right after rumors of a totally different device also set for an unveiling at the IFA electronics convention in Berlin today. The Samsung Galaxy Camera is said to be an Android Jelly Bean-based compact camera with a 4.8-inch display on the back and 16MP camera with 21x optical zoom on the front.
It’s unclear whether Samsung will also announce pricing and availability today for the ATIV S, possible ATIV Tab, and Galaxy Camera, but there’s definitely a lot of creativity churning out of the company and that’s something the market really needs.
Update: Samsung made it official and announced the Windows Phone 8-powered Ativ S smartphone today at IFA.