Samsung Ativ S goes up for preorder ahead of early November release

THE WINDOWS PHONE 8 Samsung Ativ S has gone up for preorder in the UK ahead of its release in the first week of November.

We spotted the phone over at online phone shop Handtec, sporting a £479.99 price tag. In comparison, Nokia's Lumia 920 is expected to fetch around £500 when it goes on sale, while HTC's flagship Windows Phone 8X has been given an early £398.98 price tag.

Handtec also tells us that we can expect the Ativ S to start shipping in the first week of November, around the same time as its Windows Phone 8 rivals.

If you're struggling to pick your favourite upcoming Windows Phone handset, here's a quick recap of the Ativ S' specifications. The device features a 4.8in Super AMOLED HD screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and, of course, the latest version of Microsoft's mobile operating system Windows Phone 8, giving it a customisable home screen, support for NFC and Xbox Live gaming.

There's also an 8MP rear-facing camera, HD 1080p video, a 1.9MP front-facing camera, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot and a 2,300mAh battery.

Once it's released at the beginning of next month, the Samsung Ativ S will also be available on monthly contracts at Phones 4U. µ