Hasta La Gadget!

Just a couple of months ago, we ran a story concerning Samsung’s first device that could run both Android and Windows operating systems, sporting a fantastic 3,200 x 1,800 resolution display to boot. Well, it seems that this particular device might not see the light of day as some reports claim that the Samsung ATIV Q has already been removed from Samsung’s website. According to South Korean publication Naver who heard it from their sources, who in turn happen to be familiar with the Samsung ATIV Q claim that Samsung has hit a brick wall concerning patent-related issues with this particular device, which could very well see the Samsung ATIV Q getting the cold shoulder – in other words, cancelled.

Of course, this is but a rumor at press time considering how it is impossible to track Naver’s source down, not to mention that Samsung has yet to reveal anything official at the moment. Not only that, we have no idea as to what patents might have gotten in the way of the Samsung ATIV Q’s launch, but chances are if that is the case, current pre-orders which retailers have already accepted will not be honored. Not only that, a search for the ATIV Q on Samsung’s website proved futile, since the only thing about it was found in the press release which was released on June 20th.

Samsung ATIV Q Could Be Canceled original content from Ubergizmo.

Samsung has just kicked off its Premiere event at Earls Court in London, and decided to lead with one particularly curious device — in addition to the ability to transform from a 2.8-pound tablet to a notebook with QWERTY keyboard, the company’s shape-shifting Ativ Q convertible also gives users a taste of the Android ecosystem.

As is usually the case though, news of the Q slipped out just a bit ahead of schedule — Italian-langauge site NotebookItalia came through with early press images of the Q hours before the official reveal (though there was no mention of the Q’s dual-OS tendencies). That initial leak pointed to the inclusion of an incredibly high resolution 13.3-inch display and an new Intel Haswell Core i5 processor, as well as 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, details which have now been corroborated.

Samsung’s on-stage banter further confirms that the Q’s display runs at 3200 x 1800, which makes for a pixel density of 275 PPI. That high resolution panel bodes well for the grid-based Windows 8 homescreen, but I have to wonder just how well the traditional Windows desktop works on it — the Ativ Q squeezes more pixels into a 13.3-inch display than even the Toshiba Kirabook, which had some serious visibility issues once you left the homescreen. Curiously, Samsung says the Q is capable of running for about 9 hours before having to recharge, though we’ll have to wait and see just how well those claims hold up in the real world.

Of course, all of that sort of pales in comparison to the notion that your Windows desktop apps are just a touch away from your Angry Birds accomplishments. The Q will let users hop into an unfettered, stock version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean without having to reboot their device. Users can also effectively transfer data between the two OSes — Samsung Europe marketing chief Patrick Povel noted that people could pin Android apps to the Windows 8 start screen. A tacit nod to the lack of Windows 8 apps, perhaps?

UPDATE: Natasha Lomas spent some time with the Ativ Q, you can see here impressions of the kooky convertible here.

At Samsung’s event in London today, they took the lid off of two new Windows 8 tablets. One is very normal. The other is very weird. We’re pretty excited about the weird one.

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