14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 may be a relatively young operating system, but it has been around long enough for Samsung and other PC makers to launch a whole bunch of different product lines running it.
Samsung has decided that it is not in its best interest to have more than one mother brand for Windows 8 devices.
That is why, from now on, all desktops, laptops and tablets equipped with Microsoft's OS will be called ATIV. Previously, only convertible tablets/notebooks were called like that.
To prove its intentions, the company has launched the ATIV Book 5 Ultrabook and ATIV Book 6 touch-based laptop.
The former measures 14 inches in diagonal and, we suspect, comes with the standard array of partially customizable hardware parts (SSD storage, memory, connectivity, etc).
The one unusual asset is the ExpressCache 24 GB drive (rapid boot and load times).
The ATIV Book 6 is made for strength, with a Core i7 CPU from Intel, a 15.6-inch touchscreen display, 8 GB of RAM, etc. It is aimed at content creation and multimedia (developing videos, watching them, etc.).
"Samsung has been the fastest growing PC brand for the past three years1, in part because of our commitment to developing solutions that meet and exceed the ever-evolving needs of our customers," said Mike Abary, senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing at Samsung Electronics America.
"Our expanded ATIV brand and the introduction of solutions like SideSync create the necessary synergy between our mobile and PC lines to create real ease of use for consumers. These synergies enable us to maintain our momentum and continue to offer our customers innovations that enhance the way they live and work."
Samsung ATIV Book 5 has a starting price of $899.99 / €899.99 and is up for pre-order, while ATIV Book 6 starts at $1,199.99 / €1,199.99.