Is Samsung about to make its own Surface Tablet?
2016 is going to be the year of the hybrid tablet PC. Tablet PCs like Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface Book, warrant a renewed interest from PC manufacturers, as consumers seem to have responded very well to the latest offerings, especially as speed and battery life are reaching desirable performance levels. According to sources, and even a WiFi certification document, Samsung seems to be working on a 12 inch Windows 10 tablet, already dubbed a Surface Pro 4 competitor.
The still nameless tablet is known only by its model number SM-W700, and it has received WiFi certification November 18th 2015. According to the original rumor, in the form of a leaked benchmark from a Chinese Weibo user in August, the 12 inch tablet may feature resolutions between 2560x1600 and 3840x2400, a 14nm Intel Core-M CPU, of unknown clock speed, 4GB of RAM, and what could be an S-Pen, or equivalent stylus similar to the one included with the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 smartphone.
While no newer information has surfaced as yet, aside from the WiFi certificate, there are a few predictions that can be made within a certain feasibility margin.
Screen size
Should the 12 inch screen size happen to be accurate, a 4HD or even 4K resolution should come as no surprise. While 12 inch or even 10 inch displays, like the old Galaxy Tab offered almost laughable resolutions, the same size displays with enhanced pixel density are capable of amazing picture quality and sharpness.
RAM
4GB of RAM, by 2016 will look rather conservative for a hybrid tablet capable of running Windows 10, especially as the cost of the RAM continues to fall, and with particular consideration of the fact that Samsung makes its own RAM. While for a device destined for a Q1 2016 audience 4GB would be plenty, things will likely change as early as the third quarter of 2016, when hybrid devices will really begin to shine, a time in which 8GB would look more like the ideal entry-level configuration for a tablet of this class.
Processor
Intel has made some formidable strides in the past few years, and with Skylake, it seems that the company may have reached a whole new level of performance, especially when it comes to mobile devices.
It’s not hard to envision a 6th gen Core-M CPU powering this new device, especially as every other brand new hybrid tablet PC already has one.
With that said, Samsung does have a tendency to implement its own hardware whenever it can, which means the possibility that the South Korean tech manufacturer may also be working on a powerful processor of its very own design, specifically created to provide performance, at the very least, comparable to Intel’s.
Considering that there are similar, even more believable rumors in regard to Apple developing its own processors for Macs, this does not seem terribly farfetched either.
S-Pen
As a brand, the S-Pen is very recognizable, and anyone who owns, or has owned a Galaxy Note device, is most likely familiar with the accuracy and ease of use of Samsung’s own stylus. There is every indication that Samsung could integrate a full-size version of the S-Pen with this new device, with a few enhancements as well, including pressure sensitivity, and a few sensors capable of detecting tilt angle, and speed, to enhance the experience in a similar way as the iPad Pro, or Microsoft Surface Pro and Book.