Hasta La Gadget!

AT&T might have announced that they will be offering the iPad Air, and here is something from the Windows Phone platform just in case you are interested – the Samsung ATIV S Neo. Powered by Windows Phone 8, the Samsung ATIV S Neo will cost $21 monthly with AT&T Next, or you can always opt for the more normal route of forking out $99.99 for the device as it comes with a two-year contract. The ATIV S Neo also happens to be AT&T’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphone from Samsung which will run on AT&T’s LTE network.

Just to refresh our memories, the Samsung ATIV S Neo will feature a 4.77” HD display, an 8-megapixel shooter located at the back with an LED flash with Full HD video recording capability, a front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera, 16GB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot for expansion purposes, 5GB of free online cloud storage through AT&T Locker, a dual-core 1.4GHz processor, and ATIV Beam that allows you to transfer files between compatible phones without missing a beat.

What do you think of this Windows Phone 8 device? Most of this market seems to be the domain of Nokia phones lately, so it is nice to see Samsung not put all of their eggs in a single basket.

Samsung ATIV S Neo Arrives On AT&T original content from Ubergizmo.

We knew it was coming to Sprint this summer, and we knew it would run $150 (with a two-year contract and $50 rebate, of course) — and now the carrier’s given us an exact date: August 16th. (Not to say we didn’t already have our suspicions…) Samsung’s ATIV S Neo will become the Now Network’s second Windows Phone 8 handset this Friday. The 4.8-inch smartphone packs a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, an eight-megapixel camera and NFC-based ATIV Beam sharing. More info on all of the above after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Microsoft, Sprint

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Back in June it was revealed that a couple of Windows Phone handsets would be headed Sprint’s way. One of them is the Samsung ATIV S Neo, while the other would be the HTC 8XT, and while renderings of the ATIV S Neo have made their way online, a launch date of the handset has yet to be formally announced, although recently several ATIV S Neo cases have appeared in Sprint’s stores suggesting that a release could be imminent.

According to the rumors, Sprint is expected to make the handset available for purchase come 16^th of August, so seeing cases for the ATIV S Neo appear in Sprint’s stores will certainly corroborate those claims, although we’re wondering why Sprint has not said anything yet, or put up a pre-order page that will allow customers to get their hands on the device upon its release. In any case for those wondering, the ATIV S Neo will be more or less based on the ATIV S, except it will be destined for Sprint’s CDMA network, meaning we can look forward to a 4.8″ display, a dual-core processor, an 8MP camera, and Bluetooth 4.0 LE just to name a few things. Pricing has yet to be determined but we don’t expect it to break the bank.

Samsung ATIV S Neo Cases Arrive In Sprint Stores, Launch Could Be Imminent original content from Ubergizmo.

In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

This week is Microsoft’s time to shine. Its Build conference, typically held later in the year, kicked off on Wednesday and along with it came a lot more about Windows 8.1 — which we thought we already knew plenty about, honestly. But there was more to learn, including a new milestone for the Windows Store: 100,000 apps. Well, almost 100,000 apps. Steve Ballmer said the store was “approaching” that number and has racked up “hundreds of millions” of downloads. A bit of a far cry from Apple’s 50 billion, but hey, it’s early days yet.

More interesting to me is the inclusion of native 3D-printing support in Windows 8.1. Good ‘ol 2D printers were certainly common before the traditional driver came into standard practice, but that market didn’t really take off until they effectively became plug and play. One could say it’s perhaps a bit early for that kind of native support to be needed in Windows for a 3D printer, but better too soon than too late.

Filed under: Misc

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There may not be too many mobile-focused surprises at Microsoft Build, as Sprint has just let slip its two biggest pieces of news. In addition to HTC’s 8XT, the company will carry Samsung’s latest Windows Phone 8 handset, the ATIV S Neo at some point in the near future. The ATIV S followup comes with a 4.8-inch HD display, a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM and a 2,000mAh battery, as well as unspecified WiFi, NFC and Bluetooth features. There’s no word about on-board storage, but the release specifically mentions a microSD card slot, so we’d assume you can add either 32 or 64GB more storage to the unit.

On the imaging front, there’s an 8-megapixel primary camera with an LED flash, as well as a 1.9-megapixel front-facing lens with “Manga Camera” and “Beauty Shot” apps to transform your selfies and smooth away those wrinkles. The phone will also have “international roaming,” meaning that owners won’t suffer the pain of traveling to CDMA-phobic parts of the world like Europe. Dan Hesse’s big Yellow Network isn’t talking about a release date beyond “summer,” but when this handset does make it to stores, it’ll set you back $149.99 with a two-year, unlimited LTE deal after the customary $50 mail-in rebate.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Microsoft

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