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Samsung's next Windows Phone arrives in April without 8.1 update

Samsung's next Windows Phone arrives in April without 8.1 update

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Samsung is preparing to release its next Windows Phone handset on Verizon next month. Sources familiar with Verizon’s plans tell The Verge that the Samsung Ativ SE will be made available as a Windows Phone 8 device, despite the upcoming announcement of an 8.1 update. While images originally leaked with a promise of Windows Phone 8.1, the Ativ SE will receive the update once it’s ready for the handset.

We’re told that the Ativ SE is similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 handset, with the same 5-inch 1080p display and 13-megapixel camera. It even looks the same, with a fake brushed metal effect on the rear of the device. Samsung has opted for the Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor inside the Ativ SE, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. While there’s not a lot of device storage, a microSD slot will allow owners to improve this. We understand that the device will be made available on Verizon in April, and it’s well positioned as a reasonably sized alternative to the Lumia 1520, or even the Lumia Icon.