The Nook series of eReaders from Barnes & Noble was pretty much a dud thanks to Amazon's Kindle domination. So initially the book retailer stuck Nook in a nook and cranny of the company's marketing plans.
But lo and behold here comes the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, a collaborative effort between B&N and Samsung that weds Nook features and functionality to what is basically a Nooked-up Samsung Galaxy Tab 4.
The hybrid device overcomes Nook shortcomings in a big way. It's full-fledged Android tablet that adds superior text readability.
"The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK is the most advanced NOOK ever, delivering the great NOOK experience our customers have come to love, with the high-performance tablet features they've asked for," said Michael P. Huseby, CEO of Barnes & Noble Inc.
Huseby added B&N will continue to provide support for all NOOK devices, and that the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK will sell alongside the NOOK GlowLight eReader.
The 7-inch tablet is ultra-light, lighter and thinner than previous color NOOK device at 9.74 ounces and .35-inch thickness. It features an HD display and long battery life. It matches all of the hardware specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4.
Some of those specs include a 1280x800 LCD screen, a 1.2GHz quad core Snapdragon processor, supporting Android 4.4 KitKat. Samsung's TouchWiz skin graces the screen. The device sports two photo/video cameras: 1.3-megapixel on the front, 3-megapixel on the back. Eight gigabytes of memory is found in the tablet, which is available in a white or black casing.
"We've taken our bestselling Samsung Galaxy tablet and made it the best tablet available for reading and entertainment," said Tim Baxter, President of Samsung Electronics America.
Introductory pricing is interesting. Technically, the retail price is $199.99, but an instant rebate at time of purchase delivers a $179.99 true cost. No clue on how long B&N will offer this rebate, either price is pretty reasonable with competitors from Amazon and Google checking in at around $230.
The new NOOK tablet ships with $200 in free goodies that include eBooks, television episodes, trial magazine subscriptions and various software gifts. It also includes B&N's customized book recommendation system.
