Samsung Reveals the TabPro S Windows 10 2-in-1 Tablet

[dgstorm]

The latest Surface style tablet isn't a Microsoft product. It's from Samsung. Yep, it looks like Samsung was impressed enough with Microsoft's success with the Surface Pro marketshare growth that they decided to get in on the action. Samsung created a Windows 10 2-in1 tablet of their own called the TabPro S.

Samsung revealed the Windows 10 based TabPro S tablet at CES 2016 this year. It's even ultra-thin, just like Microsoft's Surface line. It won't be quite as powerful as the Surface line, but it still won't be a slouch. Here's a breakdown of specs:

• 12-inch Super AMOLED 2,560x1,440 Resolution Display
• Intel 6th generation dual-core Core M chips clocked at 2.2GHz
• 4GB of RAM
• 5-megapixel front and rear-facing camera
• Either 128GB or 256GB solid-state storage drive
• Included keyboard case folds up to cover the 12-inch Super AMOLED display - Can magnetically dock the TabPro into the case and prop it up at either a near-upright or laidback angle
• USB Type-C port
• 5,200mAh battery
• 6.3mm thick - thinner than both the Surface Pro 4 and Apple's iPad Pro
• Weighs 1.53 pounds (without the keyboard)
• Global LTE radio
• NFC Tag in the keyboard

The device has a solid magnesium alloy frame and is scheduled for a February launch. No pricing was revealed at this time, but we will hit you with that data once it is shared.

In the mean-time, we created a thread for further discussions on the Samsung TabPro S here: Samsung Galaxy TabPro S - Windows 10 2-in-1 | Microsoft Surface Forums

Source: Samsung

 

[jrioux]

Wow! That looks like an iPad Pro with a trackpad. It sounds like Samsung has embraced Win 10. Pricing will be a key to its success.

 

[leeshor]

Sounds to me like what they are embracing is the idea behind the Surface line. Like they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

[jrioux]

Sounds to me like what they are embracing is the idea behind the Surface line. Like they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Samsung has offered keyboards for their tablets for years. I think that ASUS was the first to offer tablets with detachable keyboards. So everyone must be copying ASUS, no?

 

[leeshor]

In part, but those tablets were Android as have been most of the detachable devices until recently. The ASUS Transformer line was the first.

 

[Athol Hill]

Sounds to me like what they are embracing is the idea behind the Surface line. Like they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I would say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I am not a fan of Samsung's copytition model of copying every other popular device they can find. I don't agree with supporting that level of behaviour because ultimately all it will do is stunt innovation. They've copied every device I can think of including Motorola and the Blackberry.

If Samsung develop a copy of the surface, and sell it at a lower cost because they don't have the development costs, the consumer wins short term due to the competition but when companies stop investing in development because someone steals their ideas, sooner or later the consumer will lose.

 

[Orlbuckeye]

I think you mean design instead of development. But you have to realize there were no touch screens until a 3rd party screen maker makes the screens. Samsung designs their product the components availability. The components makers tend to be conservative in their designs so the OEM/ODM are also.

 

[Athol Hill]

I think you mean design instead of development. But you have to realize there were no touch screens until a 3rd party screen maker makes the screens. Samsung designs their product the components availability. The components makers tend to be conservative in their designs so the OEM/ODM are also.

I mean both. Development doesn't just come down to developing the technology, that's the easier part. Its how you apply the technology.

Look at the surface, individually there is probably very little unique in terms of the components, but once you put them together, it becomes a very unique and innovative device. If Microsoft asked Samsung to develop a 12" capacitive touch screen, that is the easy part, because you have something to spec you need to produce.

The issue I have with copytition is very simple. Take a device like a capacitive touch phone and there are challenges that come with combining capacitive with a device you put to your ear because when you touch it to your ear it pushes the buttons (because an ear is skin). This was never an issue with a stylus based touch screen. As the developer of the device, you you then have to get over all of the hurdles of combining technology in the right ways to solve the problem, each of them taking months to come up with multiple solutions, test each in the right way and then find a way to fit everything together. Every single piece of hardware that goes into the device has its own challenges that cost money to think of, test and find the best outcome.

Then another manufacturer comes along, reverse engineers it, based on your design knows that a sensor has to be in the ear to disable the capacitive touch, and it's cost them less than 1/50th of the development costs because they already know what parts are needed, how they need to be combined, they haven't had to try 7 different methods of solving the problem etc. Their cost of producing the device is a fraction.

 

[dgstorm]

^^Impressive analysis!