Barnes & Noble knew its Nook ebook reader tablet line was in serious trouble, so it called upon Samsung to help get the Nook out of its slump. For some time now, B&N has said that it was in the market for a hardware partner to help revitalize and justify its Nook business. As the second biggest tablet seller in the United States and a knack for releasing a ton of products, Samsung is the obvious choice.
The bookseller announced today that although it will continue to sell its own Nook GlowLight, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will be its new flagship reading device. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will run B&N’s custom Nook software, which features books and other reading material, such as magazines and newspapers, prominently in its design. It’s unknown if Samsung will add TouchWiz on top of the Nook interface like it did on the standard version of the Galaxy Tab 4.
Although not all the specs were released, B&N did say that the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will have a 7-inch display. The screen will most likely have a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, just like the original Android-based 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4. Additionally, the new Galaxy Nook is expected to have the same 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage onboard. A Micro SD card slot will probably offer added space, too, just like on the original. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook should also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, as well as a 3-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.
The new Nook from Samsung will arrive this August in stores and online from B&N. No price has been set yet, but it probably won’t be too expensive, especially not if B&N wants to sell a lot of them and redeem its Nook business. Competition in the tablet market is really tough, but going with Samsung is possibly the best bet B&N has right now.
