In London, Samsung has also revealed the ATIV Tab 3, a super-thin Windows 8 tablet that is only 8.2mm thick, but yet running a “full” Windows 8 OS powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 processor and 2GB of RAM. That is just one of the thinnest (if not “the” thinnest) Windows 8 tablet design that we have seen to date. On the surface, the ATIV Tab 3 looks like a Galaxy tablet, but of course, it can run any Windows program whether it is in classic Windows mode, or with the new Modern Design (Metro) interface.
Also included is an S-Pen, which is Samsung’s version of a Wacom tablet pen/tablet combo. We’re not sure if there is support for Adobe’s Photoshop and we wouldn’t bet on that since most Windows 8 tablets including the surface do not fully support Photoshop yet (with pressure sensitiveness etc). This may come in the future however, because it’s a software issue that could be solved with a new driver. There are many apps that already support the full pressure-sensitiveness of S-Pen, including Samsung apps, but also One Note and other 3rd party programs.
Samsung has announced that the ATIV Tab 3 would feature a 8.5 hrs of battery life (we assume this is from a simple battery depletion test), which is really good for an Atom-powered thin tablet. We’re reaching battery life territories that are truly meaningful now. This is one of the main reason why folks buy tablets: you can rely on their battery life. The next step is to see how the battery life is when playing videos etc…
We’re waiting to see what the competition will come up with, but right now, it’s great to see some “real” tablet form factors in the Windows 8 eco-systems. I hope that ATIV Tab will get the dual Windows/Android boot one day!